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Centrica to cut 1,300 call centre jobs as AI tools expand customer service

The British Gas owner said more than 90% of customers already use digital channels first, and it expects the 14% reduction across several UK sites to take two years.

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Centrica, the FTSE 100 owner of British Gas, plans to cut 1,300 call centre roles as it rolls out a targeted deployment of AI tools in customer service. The company expects 800 of the cuts to be implemented as part of a 14% reduction across sites in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leicester, Stockport, and Leeds over two years, with some positions left unfilled after resignations and the rest coming through redundancies.

Guardian Business reports that Centrica CEO Chris O’Shea argued that customer behavior, not AI, is driving the job reductions. He said more than 90% of customers use digital channels in the first instance, and Centrica has seen a 20% reduction in customer calls, adding that it expects to grow jobs around its digital interface.

The company’s defense came as Centrica reported rising retail profits for the first half of the year despite falling customer numbers. British Gas has lost customers to rival suppliers in recent years, according to the report.

Centrica is also expected to pay up to £112m in compensation to thousands of British Gas customers with prepayment meters that were force-fitted during the height of the Russian gas crisis, described by the outlet as the biggest settlement on record. The retail division profits referenced by the outlet include revenue from British Gas and its boiler car

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