ScottishPower Offers 'Job Lifeline' to Grangemouth Workers

In a release sent to Rigzone this week by the ScottishPower team, the company said it has offered a “job lifeline” to “workers facing redundancy at Ineos’ Grangemouth refinery and construction giant ISG”.

ScottishPower noted in the release that it is looking to recruit 1,000 people next year, stating that “there’s a clear skills cross over” and that it can “help find new careers in its electricity networks business as it ramps up investment”.

In September, ScottishPower announced it was doubling its UK investment to GBP 24 billion ($30.5 billion), with GBP 11 billion ($13.9 billion) to be spent in Scotland, the company highlighted in the release. ScottishPower said in the release that it confirmed GBP 5.4 billion ($6.8 billion) worth of supply chain contracts with UK and Irish businesses last week but added that it also “needs to recruit more of its own workforce to get the vital projects built”.

“The massive investment in electricity networks is not just good for modernizing critical Scottish infrastructure but for jobs too,” Sarah McNulty, People and Organization Director at ScottishPower, said in the release. 

“This is one of our largest ever recruitment programs and one of the largest in Scotland. Workers at both Ineos and ISG will have the sought after skills we are looking for and we have the jobs to match,” McNulty added.

“We’re also more than happy to look at how we help people make the move into power networks from oil and gas if they’re looking for a career switch so anyone interested should get in touch,” McNulty continued.

“We recognize it’s a concerning time for people whose livelihoods are affected and that’s why we’ve reached out to the HR teams at both companies to flag our opportunities and help get them into new roles as quickly as possible,” the ScottishPower representative went on to state.

Rigzone has contacted Petroineos, ISG, and UK union Unite for comment on ScottishPower’s release. At the time of writing, none have responded to Rigzone yet.

In a release sent to Rigzone back in September, Petroineos “confirmed its intention to cease refinery operations at Grangemouth during the second quarter of 2025”.  

In a release sent to Rigzone last month, UK union Unite announced that it had written to UK energy secretary Ed Miliband “demanding action on Grangemouth”. The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) did not respond to a previous Rigzone request for comment on that release.

A statement hosted on ISG’s website highlights that, on September 20, ISG Central Services Limited, ISG Interior Services Group UK Limited, ISG Fit Out Limited, ISG Engineering Services Limited, ISG UK Retail Limited, ISG Retail Limited, ISG Construction Limited, and ISG Jackson Limited entered administration.

“ISG’s UK operations have ceased to trade with immediate effect. No further work will be undertaken on existing UK contracts, including for Construction, Fit Out and Engineering services,” the statement notes.  

Grangemouth Refinery is one of the six remaining refineries in the UK and the only refinery in Scotland, Petroineos’ website notes, highlighting that the site has a refining capacity of 150,000 barrels per day. The refinery is connected to the Forties Pipeline System (FPS) for its crude oil intake from the North Sea and connected to Finnart Ocean Terminal for crude oil import and finished products export, the site states.

ScottishPower is part of the Iberdrola Group, which the company describes as one of the world’s largest integrated utility companies and a world leader in wind energy.

“As the UK’s only vertically integrated energy company, we are spearheading the UK’s green energy transition right across the industry,” ScottishPower states in its release.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com