British Gas creating 80 new jobs in Reading

British Gas today announced it is creating 80 full time jobs at a new insulation depot in Reading, which is due to open in March 2010.

British Gas today announced it is creating 80 full time jobs at a new insulation depot in Reading, which is due to open in March 2010. The new depot in Basingstoke Road is the first of 12 that British Gas will be opening across the UK over the next 14 months to help its customers become more energy efficient.

Based in Reading, the new roles will cover Berkshire, Surrey and Oxfordshire and will involve the installation of cavity wall and loft insulation in homes and businesses.

Wayne Smith, Head of Insulation at British Gas said: "In today's economic climate, I'm delighted to talk about the creation of 80 new jobs in Reading. There is much talk about utilising green technologies and cutting our energy usage, but we can only do this if we have enough people with the right skills. Insulation is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to cut carbon emissions, which is why British Gas is investing in insulation depots right across the UK."

Martin Salter, MP for Reading West said: "I am delighted that British Gas is investing in Reading and creating much needed engineering, technical and blue collar jobs in my constituency. This is welcome news and a real vote of confidence in the economic recovery that we are starting to see. It is clear that there is a bright future in these new green jobs and in the business of creating better energy efficiency".

Rob Wilson, MP for Reading East said: "I am delighted that British Gas is creating these important new ‘green' jobs. Reading has a skilled workforce and I know British Gas is making the right choice investing here."

Full details of all the jobs at the new Reading depot and application forms are available at www.britishgasacademy.co.uk/post or call our Recruitment Hotline on: 0845 076 3894. Previous experience of installing insulation is an advantage but is not essential as full training is given.

 

Notes

  • British Gas is to establish a new insulation business as the latest step in its moves to build an energy services business.
  • This will include recruiting 1,100 people and establishing new depots, taking in cavity and loft insulation. These people will go through full training at our academies. We are starting to recruit now and roll-out will take about a year.
  • This is on top of the 2,600 new roles in our new smart metering business we announced last summer and 1,500 new ‘green' roles announced a year ago.
  • Demand for energy efficiency products and services is rising rapidly. Insulation demand is forecast to rise from a UK-wide total of circa £600m annually in 2010 to £1.4bn in 2015.
  • British Gas is aiming to lead this UK ‘new energy' revolution, providing advice and solutions for homes and businesses as well as local authorities and other social housing providers.
  • Insulation is the most basic and cost efficient way for home owners to save energy - £1 in every £4 spent on heating is wasted due to poor insulation.
  • British Gas customers receiving income or disability-related benefits - or aged 70 or over, can have insulation free.
  • Over the last five years we have insulated over 1.5 million lofts and cavity walls, including 270,000 last year, by using external contractors.
  • We are aiming to bring this in-house as part of a much wider push to build our energy efficiency and services business, adding additional expertise and value as demand is set to increase rapidly.
  • British Gas is also investing in development, installation and maintenance of new technologies, alongside existing energy and services offerings.
  • We will lead the roll-out of the ‘smart energy' home and business - using smart meters as a key enabler for microgeneration and more efficient deployment of appliances.