260 new Jobs for Havant

Southern Electric is to create 260 new jobs at its operations centre in Penner Road, Havant, a year earlier than planned.

The new, skilled jobs will be based in the company’s recently-opened £24 million customer service and IT centre. One hundred and twenty five posts will have been filled by the end of March and a further 135 posts by the end of June.

The growth of the Penner Road site is being put down to the continued business success of Southern Electric and its parent company SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy). SSE has seen a 200,000 rise in the number of electricity and gas supply customers to 9.25 million, making it the second largest energy supplier in the UK. At the site’s launch last November, Southern Electric announced it expected to create around 200 local jobs in the next two years. However, the company’s on-going expansion has meant even more jobs now will be created in just eight months.

Tony Keeling, Director of Customer Service, said “We are delighted to be in a position to announce these jobs in Havant. Our award-winning service is playing a crucial part in winning new, and retaining existing, customers and these roles will be part of that. They are varied and skilled positions and we have a good track record of giving our team a rewarding career with a FTSE 30 organisation. We believe we can attract the right people to work with us and be part of the team that will continue to grow our business.”

The Penner Road site houses Southern Electric’s customer service centre, IT and telecoms businesses, energy sales, metering and administration under one roof in the former Autoliv factory on the shore of Langstone Harbour. Once the new posts have been filled, the site will employ 2,600 staff.