British Gas announces 700 new jobs in UK contact centres

Utilities provider, British Gas, has announced a major recruitment drive that will create 700 new jobs in its UK contact centres in Stockport, Leicester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Cardiff.

In addition to the new jobs, existing staff at its sites in Stockport and around the country will get additional training to better assist customers in financial difficulty this winter: British Gas has a £100 million support package in place to help customers who are struggling with high energy costs.

The latest recruitment effort by British Gas follows a significant increase in call volume experienced during Winter 2022/23 amid rising energy bills, and led to the business investing £25 million in customer service operations to manage demand. With energy bills remaining high, the business is anticipating higher levels of customers to need support during the coming winter.

The 700 new contact centre advisors will enable British Gas to operate longer opening times for customer calls, from 8am to 6pm on weekdays, and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays. The business expects all roles to be filled by the end of 2023, with continued hiring taking place in January as it continues to bring its call centre resource back into the UK.

Chris O’Shea, CEO of Centrica, parent company of British 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 UK call centre operations will allow us to help more households 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.”

Alongside the 700 new contact centre jobs being created, British Gas is also continuing to recruit for apprentices, with 3,500 new apprentices to join the business by 2030.