ECOTRICITY has confirmed  plans for staff redundancies – but 30 new roles will also be created.

The green energy firm, one of Stroud’s biggest employers, began the redundancy consultation process last week but would not say how many staff are affected.

This comes as Ecotricity plans to expand, with new offices proposed at the old tax office in Merrywalks and the £100million Eco Park business development off the M5 near Eastington awaiting permission from Stroud District Council.

Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, said: “From time to time we review our structure, to make sure we’ve got the right number of people where we need them across a fairly complex organisation.

"This usually results in some roles being made redundant, while new ones are created.

"Where roles are made redundant we look to redeploy our people into other roles, where possible.

"In the next three months we are recruiting for an additional 30 new roles as we continue to grow.”