It has been announced that British Gas owner Centrica will look to cut some 5,000 jobs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A Centrica spokesperson said this decision would be taken to "arrest the decline" of the company, and that its actions so far had shown how it could be "agile and responsive".
Of the company's 27,000 employees, 20,000 are based in Great Britain; new CEO Chris O'Shea, formerly the company's finance director, took over in April, just weeks ago.
Mr O'Shea said that since his appointment, he had focused on "navigating the company through the Covid-19 crisis and identifying what needs to change in Centrica".
"We've learnt through the crisis that we can be agile and responsive in the most difficult conditions and put our customers at the heart of our decision making.
"I truly regret that these difficult decisions will have to be made and understand the impact on the colleagues who will leave us.
"However, the changes we are proposing to make are designed to arrest our decline, allow us to focus on our customers and create a sustainable company."
Centrica had already been experiencing a serious decline after the energy price cap was rolled out in January 2019; the policy has been described as a "flagship" piece of legislation under former PM Theresa May's government, and is believed to have contributed to the loss of over £800 million that the firm posted last year.
GMB union spokesperson Justin Bowden said the organisation would "fight for every job" and described Centrica as a "once proud brand" that is now "crippled and weak".
These job cuts are the latest in a long line of announcement from firms including the Restaurant Group, Bentley, Aston Martin, Lookers and Monsoon Accessorize, all of which have been covered by the Leaders Council.
