The business-to-business gas and power retailer, which provides services to companies including Odeon and Burger King, is seeking to fill a range of jobs, from a global communications director and IT roles to apprenticeships. The move is part of a fast expansion of the company, which has grown from 10 people in 2007 to 190 in four countries last year.
Robert Ritchie (pictured), head of HR global retail at Gazprom Energy, told HR that getting the right people was vital to the growth of the company, which has big ambitions. "We are developing our managers to be able to spot talent and are looking for people with the right DNA for the business. People are at the heart of Gazprom."
He added that the company's first talent management framework would be launched later this month.
Gazprom Energy is bucking the trend in North West England, which suffered the biggest increase in unemployment of any UK region in the final quarter of last year. In 2011 Gazprom Energy's head office headcount grew by nearly 80%, to a total of 140 people.
The company launched a new brand identity last year and entered Germany's domestic power market. It has 10,000 customers in the UK, France and Germany and sells gas to business in the Republic of Ireland.
Ritchie added that Gazprom Energy was keen to support local youth unemployment and there are now eight apprenticeships across the business.
One apprentice, Kirsty Grange, joined straight from school and told HR that she believed there were great opportunities for her in the business. "My friends are really jealous of me," she said. "If I hadn't got this break I would have had to be a hairdresser or clean toilets. I now have a career path."
