Eaga announces hundreds of redundancies
Dec 14 2010 by Amy Hunt, The Journal
A TYNESIDE firm is to make hundreds of redundancies after millions of pounds was stripped from a Government contract.
Bosses at Newcastle-based Eaga say up to 700 jobs will be lost nationally among employees working on the Warm Front programme, a scheme to improve the energy-efficiency of hard-to-heat homes.
The company cannot currently say how many of the job losses will be in the North East, though they are expected to run into the hundreds.
The coalition Government has cut Warm Front by more than two thirds, meaning the loss of nearly £500m over the next two years.
The scale of the cut to the contract, which represents 45% of Eaga’s business, shocked bosses when it was announced as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review in October.
Last night Paul Varley, executive committee director at Eaga, launched an attack on the Government’s decision as he said a review of the company was needed to cut costs.
He said: “A 65% to 70% reduction in a budget when the latest statistics say there’s more people in fuel poverty than ever is harsh. We can’t put our head in the sand, we have to do something.
“The coalition Government has made its choices. They are acutely aware of the decision they have made, but they have to save money.
“It doesn’t provide much comfort to the many people who are struggling to heat their homes at this time of year. But the Government must have thought about that and that’s the choice they have made.
