Head of GB Energy to be based in England despite Scottish HQ pledge

The revelation prompted a backlash from Alba and the Scottish Tories

The head of GB Energy will be based in England, despite the firm being headquartered in Scotland, leaked emails suggest.

According to The Scottish Sun, Juergen Maier, appointed as GB Energy’s chair by the Prime Minister in July, has been given an office at the UK government’s Trinity Bridge House building in Salford, Greater Manchester.

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Keir StarmerKeir Starmer
Keir Starmer | Sean Gallup/Getty Images

In a memo to staff announcing Mr Maier’s arrival, a senior civil servant said: “The chair for GB Energy will be based in Salford. We have received a specialist requirement request to provide dedicated office space for this position within Trinity Bridge House.

“On an exceptional basis, we have agreed that with effect from Tuesday, October 1, the quiet room on the second floor will be used for this purpose. This agreement will be in place for the foreseeable future.”

The former Siemens boss, Mr Maier lives in south Manchester, around 360 miles from Aberdeen.

It comes despite Sir Keir Starmer using his conference speech in Liverpool last month to pledge GB Energy would be based in Aberdeen and led by the “talent and skills of working people in the Granite City”.

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Alba Party’s Holyrood leader MSP Ash Regan criticised Labour over where Mr Maier was based.

She said: “What message of commitment does it send to Scotland that absentee GB Energy chair Juergen Maier will be managing Aberdeen-based GB Energy from his home in Manchester?

GB Energy is chaired by Juergen Maier, who ran Siemens in the UK. GB Energy is chaired by Juergen Maier, who ran Siemens in the UK.
GB Energy is chaired by Juergen Maier, who ran Siemens in the UK.

“Scotland has not forgotten Labour’s 2009 sell-off of British Energy - and will not be reassured by cheap soundbites, shiny HQ nameplates or the chair’s occasional visits north.”

Scottish Tory shadow energy secretary Douglas Lumsden said: “It is an insult to the north-east that the chair of GB Energy will be based hundreds of miles away.

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“Common sense should have told Keir Starmer that the person running one of his flagship policies should be on the ground in Aberdeen.”

A Labour source said: "The Conservatives and SNP have completely failed to invest in Scotland's clean energy future. The Conservatives sold our energy assets off and the SNP totally failed to set up a publicly-owned energy company. Where they failed, Labour is acting, delivering jobs and investment in Scotland, with our mission to deliver economic growth to the whole United Kingdom.”

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