British Gas’s parent Centrica plans to establish a new entity known as British Gas X, media reports said. The company’s plans to establish a new entity comes at a time when the energy industry is becoming competitive.
It is reported that the company plans to slash 5,000 jobs. The service from British Gas X is designed for tech savvy customers. The company will allow customers to switch anytime without exit fees.
Centrica’s decision to launch a new challenger energy brand stems from the fact that it lost its place in the FTSE 100 index this year on the back of declining customer base and fall in global oil and gas prices, media reports said. The company plans to simplify its 80 different employment contracts, some of them going back to more than 35 years.
British Gas is the country’s largest household energy supplier serving more than seven million customers. However, the company lost 290,000 customers last year.
However, British Gas will continue to offer premium services to its customers. This includes access to boiler repairs and home energy services among other British Gas home energy services, media reports said.
Peter Simon, who is the head of Centrica’s home services division, will lead the proposed British Gas X. That said, Matthew Bateman, who is the head of Centrica’s field operations, will run the existing British Gas business, according to media reports.