Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has launched a partnership with the University of Portsmouth to support its customers this winter.

The distribution network operator has joined forces with the Hampshire university to provide employment opportunities for students looking to work flexibly alongside their studies.

SSEN is responsible for the electricity network powering over 3.8 million homes and businesses across central southern England and the north of Scotland. As part of its annual preparations for winter, SSEN increases the number of available colleagues to support its Customer Contact Centres during storms, to ensure customers receive timely information and any additional support they may need.

Last year, SSEN handled over 550,000 customer calls during power cuts, with the average number of calls increasing tenfold during storms in the winter months. The partnership with the University of Portsmouth brings new skills to SSEN customer support team, providing vital opportunities for students seeking experience in a customer-facing industry, while working flexibly around their academic commitments.

George Ahmed, Head of SSEN's Customer Contact Centre in central southern England, said:

"This is a really exciting time for SSEN in launching a new employment proposition into the marketplace which is designed to provide flexibility to the business to support our customers when they need us, while also specifically tailored to appeal to a student demographic."

"We are delighted to be working with the University of Portsmouth on this new programme of recruitment and to be supporting their active campaigns to generate income for students and build upon their employability skills in the process."

Sally Nicolson, Employer Engagement Officer at the University of Portsmouth, said:

"We are delighted to be working with SSEN to provide these opportunities to our students. Many students look to work part-time alongside their studies and these rolesprovide great experience for students to evidence on their CVs to show competence in working for a commercial business."

Applications are welcome from students studying at the University of Portsmouth and will close at 5pm on Wednesday 18 November.

For more information on the opportunities available, please visit the University of Portsmouth's MyCareer portal at mycareer.port.ac.uk/.