POWERGEN'S TXU takeover could spark new life into the fallen energy giant – if it follows Nottingham's example.The new power behind the TXU throne gobbled up East Midlands Electric in 1998.

POWERGEN'S TXU takeover could spark new life into the fallen energy giant – if it follows Nottingham's example.

The new power behind the TXU throne gobbled up East Midlands Electric in 1998.

But fears of mass job losses at the Nottingham-based power company were quickly eased by new investment.

Now there are 2,500 Powergen employees in Nottingham – 1,500 more than at the company's HQ in Coventry.

Richard Tressiter covered the takeover as Nottingham Evening Post's business editor.

And he has been impressed with the impact they had on their new base.

He said: "There were job losses, but they were in parts of the business Powergen didn't want.

"But they have also opened three major call centres in Nottingham, employing more than 2,000 people.

"They have been excellent since they took over – very slick."

A Powergen spokeswoman said it was too early to predict if the company's continued Ipswich presence would follow the Nottingham model.

She also refused to speculate on the potential job losses among the 1,200 Ipswich-based TXU staff.

But there was potential good news for workers worried about their future, she said: "We have a very good track record with integrations – both with East Midlands Electric and LG&E in Kentucky.

"We treat people very fairly and try to give them information as soon as we can.

"In other integrations, we have managed to achieve job losses on a voluntary basis and without compulsory redundancies."

The spokesman said all decisions would have to wait for the conclusion of a European Union merger investigation.