THOUSANDS have signed a letter to British Gas shareholders warning them of the damage being done to their investments by the company’s brutal fire-and-rehire strategy. 

As 7,000 service engineers prepared for a fresh four-day strike from tomorrow, GMB union revealed that nearly 5,000 supporters had signed a letter to high-profile investors urging them to help secure a negotiated end to the dispute.

The shareholders — including Schroders, Standard Life Aberdeen and Blackrock — between them own about 85 per cent of British Gas’s parent company, Centrica.