A SELKIRK-BASED gas and electricity supplier will recruit a further 160 members of staff throughout 2018.

Bosses at Spark Energy have announced the growth plans to mark the one-year anniversary of its Academy, which was opened by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Since last year, 125 customer service staff have been trained alongside 67 people in non-customer facing roles in the Dunsdale Road facility.

And now the firm will offer more places based in IT, finance, legal and compliance, HR and training.

Spark’s director of people of culture, John Hawkins, who was the architect of the Academy said: "This is a fantastic milestone for the Spark Academy and the volume of training delivered is testament to its benefits for not only Spark and its customers, but the entire Borders region.

"Most of Spark’s staff live within 10 miles of Selkirk, making an invaluable contribution to the jobs market in the local area.

"But we’re growing quickly and now also have teams in Edinburgh and Horsham so we’re always on the lookout for new talent to help the business provide a great experience for our customers.

"The Spark Academy is a vital part of this process – it’s the incubator where each new recruit spends time to learn about us, our customers and culture and of course about their role.

"The current team also benefit from courses designed to develop their skills and careers."

The company has delivered more than 23,000 hours of training during its first year through induction training courses.

For more information, visit: https://sparkenergy.co.uk/careers