'Unsatisfactory' meeting with Ovo provides no clarity over Perth jobs
Perthshire political leaders met with the firm this morning
Perthshire politicians, MP Pete Wishart, MSP's John Swinney and Jim Fairlie held a meeting with Ovo energy this morning following the announcement that the organisation planed to cut 1,700 jobs.
Included in the quarter of the workforce set to be axed are 700 staff at the firms Perth office which is set to be closed. The MP for Perth and North Perthshire says a number of questions on the future of the city's workforce have been left "unanswered" following their meeting.
Wishart said; "We're grateful for the opportunity to discuss with senior management at Ovo about the issues with the planned closure of the Perth operation. But, I have to say, it was a very unsatisfactory meeting.
"A number of the questions we had, just about what happens next, were left unanswered and I think that there's a great deal of confusion as yet about what will happen if the voluntary redundancy's aren't taken."
The MP discussed the firms plans for remote working, he said: "I think their strategy is to ensure that virtual working, working from home, is a feature that can continue. That's fine, you know, I think as we go forward there will be a number of big companies looking at this as an option.
"But what we don't know yet is where these 1,700 job losses fits into this. This idea that 700 jobs will be going from Perth and all of a sudden they're going to be working from home or offered voluntary redundancy packages. If that's not taken up, what happens to them? They weren't able to answer that."
He also added that the firm couldn't give a clear answer on why the Perth office is to be closed and moved to Glasgow. He said: "Another thing that they weren't able to answer, which frustrated us greatly, was, they've got this fantastic facility in Dunkeld road in Perth, you know, like a perfect place for all the requirements that they'll need as a large company.
"But, they're closing that and moving everything to Glasgow. We asked them repeatedly why Perth couldn't be used for this and why they were having to set up an operation in Glasgow and we got no clear answer as to why that was the case."
The politicians are set to meet with the company again next month and are hopeful that their next meeting can be more successful. The MP said: "We are going to be meeting again in February where they say to us that they'll have a clearer indication of how many people have opted for the voluntary redundancy package.
"At this stage we're unable to offer any sort of clarity to the workforce in Perth and we remain greatly concerned just about where all this is going."