€500k for Bord Gáis office furniture

BORD GÁIS has caused outrage among its customers by splashing out up to €500,000 on chairs and desks for its new office.

Customers were furious yesterday given that the company is hiking gas and electricity prices despite many families struggling to pay their bills.

The company is taking delivery of 380 Herman Miller Aeron chairs this week and has also bought 380 desks.

Bord Gáis Energy is moving staff from three offices in Dublin under one roof in Warrington Place. However, it said the office furniture in the three other locations is no longer suitable as some are 10 years old.

A Bord Gáis spokesman said it is replacing the chairs and desks for 380 staff for “health and safety” reasons.

It put the contract for furniture out to tender. MJ Flood is supplying the chairs, while Farrell Furniture in Co Louth is supplying the desks.

Bord Gáis refused to say how much is it spending on the furniture but said it received a discount as it bought in bulk. It did say that talk of each chair costing €700 is “wildly inaccurate”.

The spokesman said: “These are quality chairs suitable for an office and there is nothing unusual as they are standard chairs.”

He said the company wanted to buy chairs that were durable.

Despite this, consumers were outraged at the move by Bord Gáis to spend so much on office furniture given that it increased electricity prices by 12% at the start of the month.

Gas prices are expected to rise 22% from the start of October.