Perth-based power giant SSE cut 100 jobs on Friday as it moved to end the practice of cold calling potential new energy customers.
The firm said it had made the decision because it recognised unsolicited telephone calls were often unwelcome and many people found them intrusive.
A total of 100 jobs 70 in Thatcham, Berkshire, and a further 30 in Cardiff are being lost as a result of the move, although SSE said it intended to redeploy the staff to other posts within its customer service division or within other areas of the company.
A small, dedicated telesales team will remain to deal with calls from potential customers, but staff will not make outbound calls.
In future the utility firm will only contact people they have a pre-existing relationship with, or potential customers who have previously agreed to a call.
The change comes just months after SSE was fined a record £10.5 million by regulator Ofgem for what it described as prolonged and extensive mis-selling practices.
The watchdog said there were failures in SSE’s in-store, doorstep and telephone sales activities, and that the level of the fine reflected the seriousness of the firm’s breach, the likely harm caused to customers and gain to the company. SSE put an end to doorstep selling in 2011 but had persevered with cold-calling.
“Nobody likes receiving a sales call out of the blue and so we are stopping it,” said Will Morris, SSE’s group managing director for retail.
“It doesn’t matter that other energy companies still do it, or other industries, for that matter; cold calling is not something that a company like SSE committed to providing an excellent customer experience should be doing any longer.
“We want to be a company that sells itself, one that is recognised for being the best in its sector and one that people choose to buy from.
“This decision to end unsolicited calls is part of becoming that company and demonstrates that we are dedicated to delivering what customers want.”
In addition to the cold calling and doorstep selling moves, SSE said it had also introduced sales and service guarantees and simplified its range of tariffs to improve interactions with potential customers and would go even further in future.
Mr Morris said: “Our customers are the most important people to us, and we are constantly looking at ways we can deliver more of what they want.
“We are a company that listens and we will not be shy to make other changes when it is what our customers would like.”