THREE hundred new jobs are on the cards in Golborne after a local firm won a major contract to help local people save money on their gas bills.

Switch Energy based in Golborne Enterprise Park, has won a contract from Norweb to sell energy to half a million homes throughout Leigh, Wigan, Warrington, St Helens, Bolton and eventually Manchester and Liverpool.

The firm, situated on the site of the former 'power house' of Golborne pit, has already started recruiting and this week is expected to take on the first 35 full-time and 20 part-time workers.

It will continue recruiting over the next few weeks with application details made available through local job centres.

Switch Energy, which was started five years ago by Chris Astley and Mike Donovan after the breakdown of traditional nationalised barriers in the fuel industry, has seen the firm slowly but surely preparing to take on the big boys.

Chris, 33, who lives in Abram, said: "This is a massive shot in the arm for us, and we expect it will be tremendous for Golborne which has been rather rundown over the past few years. I am delighted we are able to offer new jobs to people in the town and we are confident we will have a very keen work force.

"Our job is to contact upto half a million households in the region and persuade them that we can offer them substantial savings on their gas bills by using Norweb. I believe we can achieve a turnover of £2 million in the first four months and at least £4 million in the first year.

"It has been hard work getting this far but the future is bright and in the long term we will also be able to offer advice on lower cost telephone calls and alternative suppliers of electricity making the transition into the new competitive market easy and understandable for the householder."

Golborne Town Centre Manager John Ayres commented: "This is brilliant news for Golborne and demonstrates the opportunities available through the Coalfield Challenge area for local firms. This is a major boost for Golborne and is good news for those seeking jobs in the town.

"I hope this will also encourage more businesses in the area to seek to make Golborne their base for new enterprises and therefore bring in even more work."

The announcement comes in the week that work starts on the new Stone Cross industrial park development which could bring 2,000 jobs.

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