What It Does: SSE specialises in the generation and distribution of electricity. The company also produces, transports, and distributes natural gas. SSE is also involved in telecommunications metering.
Mission: SSE's mission statement is to fast-track business and human performance through technology-powered services and solutions.
Size and Presence: SSE's workforce in the UK comprises over 10,000 employees across virtually 350 sites in the region. Its headquarters is located in Perth, Scotland.
Best Known For: SSE is an award-winning organisation. In 2021, it won awards in three categories, namely Best Smart Meter Experience, Best Meter Reading Services, and Best Customer Services, at the Uswitch Energy Awards.
The Good Bits: The working atmosphere is healthy and charged with positive energy. SSE offers its employees numerous work incentives. There are good career prospects for fresh graduates and interns.
The Not-So-Good Bits: Raises in pay hardly happen.
SSE has its origins traced to a couple of government-owned electricity transmission authorities, namely the Southern Electricity Board (later named Southern Electric) and the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (later named Scottish Hydro-Electric Board). In 1998, these firms were merged, forming Scottish and Southern Electric. 2 years after the merger, SSE purchased the SWALEC energy transmission business. In 20o4, the organisation took over Ferrybridge and Fiddlers Ferry Power stations in a deal worth £250 million. Four years later, SSE acquired Airtricity Holdings, a wind farm company. In 2009, it purchased Uskmouth power station, a power company in Wales.
In 2010, SSE marked its diversification into the natural gas market by purchasing the natural gas upstream operations of Hess Corporation. That same year, the firm officially changed its company branding to SSE. In late 2017, the company announced that it would split from its retail arm, which was to merge with the Npower arm of Innogy, a rival company. The agreement included that SSE shareholders would have majority stakes in the demerged company while Innogy shareholders would have the remaining. In early 2020, SSE sold off its retail operations to OVO Energy. In 2021, SSE agreed to sell 33.3% of its gas distribution operations for the sum of £1.2 billion.
SSE's culture is founded on four core values, namely
SSE has a welcoming and inclusive environment that encourages its employees to be themselves regardless of their ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, work experiences, gender, sexuality, religions, political affiliations, and gender identities. The rich diversity in the workforce ensures that no one feels out of place.
The company encourages employees to be vocal about their views and treats everyone respectfully. The company is a large community that's segmented into different employee-led networks, including LGTQIA+, Working Parents, Menopause, Black and Ethnic Minority, etc.
SSE is heavily invested in the professional development of its workforce. It provides diverse career development and advancement opportunities for its apprentices, interns, and fresh graduates. SSE's apprenticeship programme lasts for 3-4 years. It gives school leavers a chance to work and earn a living while undergoing training for a relevant qualification. The company's summer placement opportunities are targeted at University students who are willing to explore different career fields in the energy industry. It's a yearly development programme which gives interns a chance to gain practical employment experience.
SSE's graduate programme nurtures fresh graduates through real work experience and equips them with several skills and qualifications through Charterships. These programmes are designed to ensure the participants are beneficiaries of a successful career in the industry.
SSE pays its fresh graduates an average annual salary of £35,000.
SSE intends to build and achieve a net zero infrastructure.
There's no widely published controversy.