Robin Hood Energy: Staff lose jobs as customers sold to British Gas

When Robin Hood Energy was launched, the council said it was the first local authority run energy company in the UK

Staff at a council-run energy company are losing their jobs as the firm's customer base is being sold to British Gas.

A total of 230 people will be made redundant after the collapse of Robin Hood Energy (RHE), run by Nottingham City Council.

The GMB union said it was an "inexcusable example of how not to treat loyal" workers.

The council said the sale "was the right option".

Once customers have moved to British Gas, plans to close down RHE will be enacted, the authority added.

British Gas said the transaction was expected to be complete on 16 September with customers moving to the firm over the next few months.

The council set up RHE in 2015 to try to provide cheaper energy, but the company made losses every year.

By March 2019, the company had lost £34.4m despite large loans from the authority, external auditors Grant Thornton said.

A recent report criticised the authority for how it handled the company after it had invested £43m of public cash and provided £16.5m of guarantees.

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Sarah Worth, from the union, said the news was "devastating for workers" and called RHE a "badly run, local authority controlled company".

The union said many staff members have less than two years' service, with no legal entitlement to redundancy pay, and a large proportion of the workforce was young so would only receive half a week's pay for every year of service under the age of 22.

GMB said the workers will lose their jobs in November and it was calling for every RHE employee to receive a minimum of three months' redundancy pay.

"We will fight tooth and nail to ensure that these workers don't end up on the scrap heap without a penny," Ms Worth said.

The city council said RHE customers do not need to take any action and will be contacted with more details

Council leader David Mellen said: "We know this is a very sad day for the business and its employees who have played a part in creating a more dynamic and customer orientated market for all energy consumers."

Centrica, owners of British Gas, said RHE serves about 112,000 residential customers, and 2,600 business customers across 10,000 sites.

Chris O'Shea, from Centrica, said: "We are pleased to be able to offer every customer moving to British Gas a tariff which means their price will not be any higher and, importantly, they will be supplied with green electricity."