Ovo introduced a £50m coronavirus hardship scheme in April to help customers to pay their bills and furloughed 3,400 staff, such as engineers unable to conduct visits. In May, it announced 2,600 job losses, the majority from SSE’s domestic supply arm, which it acquired last year for £500m. The Bristol company, launched in 2009 by chief executive Stephen Fitzpatrick, 42, is now the UK’s third largest energy supplier, and Mitsubishi bought a 20% stake last year for a reported £216m. It is making a substantial ebitda loss.