Energy company E.ON has announced it intends to close its Rayleigh site in Essex with the expected loss of 600 jobs.

At the same time, in order to ensure that the new centres of excellence can offer the best possible assistance, the company is to create a substantial number of additional roles in customer service elsewhere in the business.

Further changes will see 75 people going from the company's in-house IT support teams and a further 125 people will be affected in its Energy Services business.

Graham Bartlett, Managing Director of E.ON's Retail business, said: "We believe that our customers deserve the best possible service and these changes will enable us to make further progress to supplement improvements we've already made.

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"That said, the decision to close the Rayleigh site was not a move that we've taken lightly and we absolutely understand the effect that this decision will have on our colleagues who have been affected.

"But the fact of the matter is that our Retail business has only just returned to profit after years of loss-making and, to ensure we can continue to do that, we have to make these tough choices.

"I can assure everyone affected that we'll be as supportive as we can during this difficult time and I also want to take the opportunity to thank them for their hard work."

The company will look for voluntary redundancies in the first instance, and relocation packages will be offered where applicable. An extensive range of support services, including individual counselling, will be made available to all affected employees.

(CD/BMcC)