Scottish Conservative MSPs vow to continue to press OVO Energy on their commitment to Perth workforce

MSPs Murdo Fraser and Liz Smith

Scottish Conservative MSPs Murdo Fraser and Liz Smith have vowed to continue to push OVO Energy on their commitment to their Perth workforce.

The two Mid Scotland and Fife politicians recently had a virtual meeting with Adrian Letts, the CEO of OVO Energy Retail, following the decision by the company to close the Perth site in the final quarter of the year.

There are just over 700 OVO staff who work in Perth.

Following the meeting, Mr Fraser said: “We welcomed the opportunity to meet with Mr Letts and we will continue to push the company on their commitment to their Perth workforce. He told us that those who want to work from home will be supported as they feel flexible working is the way ahead for the firm.

“He told us that this could see some staff being required to travel to the new hub office in Glasgow perhaps once or twice a week, at the most. However, my concern over this is how it will affect staff that will have to arrange childcare and for those who live to the north or east of Perth will be faced with a journey of over an hour to travel to Glasgow.

“One important aspect I asked about was with the substantial history of Perth staff working for SSE and then OVO, what will be the attraction of trying to recruit people in the future if around one quarter or one third of its staff will have taken voluntary redundancy?”

And Liz Smith added: “It was a useful meeting, but rest assured we will continue to push for a firm commitment from OVO to ensure that they keep to their promise of supporting their staff whether in terms of re-skilling or helping them adjust to flexible working. This is very important in this day and age.

“Also, during the meeting, we asked for information about the specific criteria they are using to make their decision to have their Perth staff work from home in the future, so it will be very interesting to see that once it is supplied.”

 

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Murdo Fraser MSP

Murdo Fraser

Murdo Fraser was born in Inverness and studied law at Aberdeen University before practicing as a solicitor in Edinburgh. In the 1999 Scottish Parliament Election, Murdo stood as the Conservative candidate for North Tayside, and fought the constituency again at the 2001 General Election. He became a Member of the Scottish Parliament in August 2001 following the resignation of the previous List Member for Mid-Scotland and Fife, and was re-elected in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2021. Murdo was Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservatives from November 2005 to November 2011 and has served as spokesman on Education, Health, Economy and Finance. Murdo was delighted to be re-elected in 2021 and is now Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Business, Economic Growth and Tourism. 
Liz Smith

Liz Smith

Liz Smith was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011, 2016 and in 2021. She is one of four Conservative Regional Members for Mid Scotland and Fife. Following her long-serving role as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, she became Chief Whip in February 2020. Following the 2021 election, Liz took over the role of Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, now serving as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Public Administration, and chairs two cross party committees: those on Colleges and Universities, and Sport.