By Mark Mackay

POWER GROUP Scottish and Southern Energy is set to create more than 100 new jobs at its headquarters in Perth.

The announcement was made by chairman Sir Robert Smith at the company’s annual general meeting, held yesterday at Perth Concert Hall.

The firm, which supplies energy in Scotland as Scottish Hydro Electric, has been steadily increasing the number of staff at the site.

This latest recruitment drive will bring staff numbers at SSE’s customer service department to nearly 1000 and take the total number of people employed in Perth to over 1800.

The new jobs come on the back of a hugely successful year for Scottish and Southern.

At the AGM, Sir Robert explained, “At our AGM last year we announced we had reached seven million electricity and gas customers.

“A mere 11 months later, in June of this year, we topped the eight million customer mark.

“We are now firmly established as the UK’s third largest supplier of energy and if we maintain the rate of growth we have achieved over the last few years, it’s only a matter of time before we become the second largest.”

He added, “Our success is down to our ability to maintain the highest possible standards of customer service and this reflects the efforts and professionalism of our staff across the board.

“To support our customers going forward, I’m pleased to say we are planning to recruit an additional 100 people here in Perth.”

The new positions are being created within the head- quarters’ customer service, new business and customer account processing teams.

A further 200 jobs are being created in SSE’s customer service centres south of the border.

Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart welcomed the announcement and said he hoped other firms would follow SSE’s lead.

“Once again Scottish and Southern Energy has proved its commitment to Perthshire by announcing more jobs for the area,” he said.

“It is already one of the main employers in Perthshire.

“I am delighted to see that the company recognises that Perthshire’s location and availability of motivated and well trained staff suits their needs.

“The Fair City has certainly had its share of ups and down of late in terms of job announcements and it was a pleasure to hear this good news story.”

Perth MSP Roseanna Cunningham expressed her delight at the announcement.

“SSE are a major part of the Perth economy and so this is not just good news for the 100 people who will get these jobs, it is good news for the whole of Perthshire,” said Ms Cunningham.

Sir Robert also paid tribute to the work being done by SSE staff in Gloucester and Tewksbury in maintaining electricity supplies to areas affected by flooding.