TWO Labour borough councillors have written a letter to the leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council following the announcement that a major employer is to leave the town.

Councillor Jack Cousens, councillor for Brookvale and Kings Furlong, and Cllr Mike Westbook, deputy leader, have written to Cllr Clive Sanders with concerns that SSE is planning to move all 600 staff from its Winchester Road office, and the vast majority will move to a new location in Reading.

As reported on The Gazette website yesterday, the energy company said it had entered into an agreement to lease a newly-constructed building in the Berkshire town, which it will take possession of in January, with staff moving in from the end of next year.

The letter to Cllr Sanders said: "We are sure that you will share our concerns over this news.

"Sadly as a town we have lost other significant businesses to areas such as Reading and there is a worry that, in some cases, Basingstoke is not fulfilling the needs of these businesses.

"Would you as a matter of urgency look into this issue to understand why this is happening in order to prevent any more businesses leaving the town."

It added: "Specifically regarding SSE we would ask whether the council has been in touch with SSE before they made this announcement in order to discuss with them whether there was anything the council could do that would have helped them stay in the town."

Cabinet member for finance and resources Cllr John Izett said: “It is disappointing that SSE is looking to leave Basingstoke and combine its teams in Reading.  We made a number of proposals for Basing View sites that would have been very competitively priced compared to rents in Reading.

"It is clear that a fundamental issue for companies is the absence of newly built office space in the town. In contrast to Reading, private sector developers have not been prepared to build new offices speculatively here, an issue that has to be addressed.”

Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of SSE, said: "We have looked extensively for the right building in the right location to provide a high quality environment from which to support efficient operations for customers and provide the right base for our extensive activities across the south-east of England; and we have found it in Number 1 Forbury Place.

"The new building gives us the space to bring together over 1,900 SSE employees in one place and provide a modern, flexible working environment."

The company owns the Winchester Road office which was recently refurbished.

A spokesman for SSE said that it will look at a range of options for the building's future, including putting it on the market for let or sale.