Energy provider brings 80 new jobs – and an £18k charity windfall

Utility Warehouse (UW) has pledged to donate the funds to four local charities in Selkirk as it officially opened its new complex.

The Lavender Touch, Borders Carers Centre, Stable Life and Borders Children’s Charity will each receive a share of the total donation from UW’s charitable arm, the UW Foundation, to support their work in the local community.

It comes as UW, which has more than 900,000 customers and provides energy, broadband, mobile and insurance services, launched its new customer service hub in the Ettrick Riverside Business Centre.

Selkirk was chosen as the new office location as many people in the community already have a high level of customer service experience in the energy industry and UW wants to help keep local jobs in the area.

UW has hired 25 new advisers for the hub with plans to recruit up to 80 more over the next 18 months. The Selkirk team will focus on UW’s energy prepayment customers, offering specialist support to customers on this tariff.

The Selkirk customer service hub is UW’s second outside London. It is part of UW’s drive to create customer service “centres of excellence” across the country and follows the opening of a hub in Burnley last year.

The decision to help fund local Selkirk charities “reinforces UW’s commitment to the town and local area”.

Andrew Lindsay, co-CEO of Utility Warehouse, said: “We’re committed to investing in Selkirk and creating local jobs and long-term career opportunities with our new hub which will provide the very best support for our prepayment customers. We’re also delighted to donate £18,000 to four fantastic local charities and help support the wider community.”

The UW Foundation was established in 2019 to support green initiatives and disadvantaged groups.