• New staff will be in post by the end of the year to help customers this winter.
• Scottish Gas has a £100 million support package available – the largest of any UK supplier – and staff will be given additional training on helping customers who are struggling with energy costs.

Scottish Gas has announced it is growing its team of call centre operators in Edinburgh as it continues to provide even more help for customers this winter.

The energy provider is recruiting 350 new roles at its Edinburgh energy contact centre which will see total staff numbers rise to more than 480. Additional training on assisting customers in the UK with financial difficulty will also be rolled out across the team as the winter heating season begins.

The move is part of nationwide commitment to increase its existing customer service teams and hire more than 700 new call centre staff. These roles will all be in post by the end of the year with continued hiring taking place in January as part of the company’s aim to move all its call centre resource to the UK.

Last winter, Scottish Gas experienced an increase in call volume due to the energy crisis and invested £25 million in its customer services operations to meet this demand. Whilst energy prices have come down, the company still expects customers to need support so is continuing to boost its UK teams. The increased staff numbers will also mean longer opening times for Scottish Gas customers of 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 2pm on Saturday.

Scottish Gas has a £100 million support package in place to help customers who are struggling with energy costs – the largest voluntary support package offered by a UK supplier. Its customer services teams will receive additional training in how to help customers in financial difficultly including directing them to available support.

Chris O’Shea, CEO of Centrica, parent company of Scottish Gas, said: “Although energy prices have come down slightly, many of our customers are still struggling overall with the cost of living and need to speak to us for longer about their energy bills. 

“Strengthening our call centre operations in Edinburgh will allow us to help more households across Scotland and the rest of the UK with expert advice and support during this time. I’m extremely proud of how our expert teams support our customers every day – in the past year they’ve helped over 1 million customers who’ve been struggling to afford their bills with additional support such as grants, debt relief and payment plans.”