British Gas

British Gas

BritishGas.co.uk, About

British Gas, an energy and home services provider, is the biggest energy supplier in the UK, and is considered one of the "Big Six" dominating the gas and electricity market. "British Gas" is the trading name of British Gas Services Ltd and British Gas New Heating Ltd, both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Centrica.

Corporate Grouping

• Centrica plc
  • Centrica Holdings Ltd, investment holdco, CH (subsids: 2017 a/cs, p.23,
    • GB Gas Holdings Ltd, CH (Subsids: 2017 a/cs, p.22, p.25, p.37)
      • British Gas Services Ltd, CH
        • Dyno-Rod Ltd, franchise network of plumbing and drains service centres, CH
      • British Gas New Heating Ltd, sale, installation and repair of gas central heating systems, CH (Subsids Dec.2017 a/cs, p.28)
        • PH Jones Group Ltd, holdco,
        • British Gas Solar Ltd, dormant
        • Solar Technologies Group Ltd, dormant
      • British Gas Trading Ltd, buys and sells gas and power to residential and business customers; buys from British Gas Energy Procurement Ltd. Appointed representative of British Gas Services Ltd. CH
        • British Gas Energy Procurement Ltd, procurement and supply of physical gas and power to British Gas Trading Ltd, CH
        • Centrica Hive Ltd (t/a as Hive), was Centrica Connected Home Ltd, development of software platform and hardware etc related to virtual home monitoring, website, CH
          • Flowgem Ltd, home and/or commercial services, dormant + being wound up, CH
          • Alertme.com Inc, non-trading, reg. USA
          • Alertme.com GmbH, non-trading, reg. Germany
        • ECL Contracts Ltd, dormant, CH
        • ECL Investments Ltd, dormant, CH
        • Electricity Direct (UK) Ltd, dormant, CH
        • Hillserve Ltd, dormant, installation of loft and cavity wall insulation, CH

ToDo:

See British Gas articles re price increases here

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• Centrica Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, business services, reg. Trinadad and Tobavo
• British Gas Insurance Ltd, underwrite our HomeCare insurance products.Registered England and Wales No. 06608316.
• British Gas New Heating Ltd, regno 06723244. Appointed representative of British Gas Services Ltd
• British Gas Services Ltd, administrate most of our insurance products and provide many of our non-insurance products. regno 03141243.
• British Gas Services (Commercial) Ltd, registered in England and Wales No. 07385984.
• British Gas Social Housing Ltd, installaton, servicing and repair of central heating systems
• Centrica Delta Ltd, in liquidation (2017 a/cs), reg. Isle of Man
• Centrica Energy BV, reg. Netherlands, dissolved Jul.2018
• Centrica Energy Management Ltd
• Centrica Energy Marketing Ltd
• Centrica Finance Norway Ltd, group financing, reg. Jersey
• Centrica Insurance Company Ltd, insurance provision, reg. Isle of Man
• Centrica (IOM) Ltd, dormant, reg. Isle of Man
• Centrica Jersey Ltd, in liquidation (2017 a/cs), reg. Jersey
• Centrica Langage Ltd
• Centrica Nederland BV, holdco, reg. Netherlands
• Centrica Jersey Ltd, in liquidation, reg. Jersey
• Centrica Retail Holdings Netherlands BV, holdco, reg. Netherlands, dissolved Jul.2018
• Centrica SHB Ltd
• EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Ltd (related somehow)
• Finance Scotland CEPS Ltd Partnership, £100 investment, reg. Scotland
• Finance Scotland CPP Ltd Partnership, £100 investment, reg. Scotland
• Hydrocarbon Resources Ltd
• Lake Acquisitions Ltd (related somehow)
• Lincs Wind Farm Ltd (related somehow)
• NSGP (Ensign) Ltd, gas and/or oil exploration and production, reg. Jersey
• Lake Acquisitions Ltd, holdco, reg ?
• PH Jones Facilities Management Ltd, air condition and ventilation engineers,
• Solar Technologies Ltd, dormant
• Soren Ltd, dormant
• Atform Ltd, dormant

Timelines

GB Gas Holdings Ltd

• Dec.2017: Sold its investment in NSIP (EYS) Ltd - to whom?
• Jul.2017: Centrica plc combined its European oil and gas exploration business with that of Bayerngas Norge AS. A newly-incorporated subsidiary, Spririt Energy Ltd, took on the combined buisnesses. (see 2017 a/cs, p.30)
• Jan.2017: Sold Building Management Solutions Integrators Ltd, formerly British Gas Energy Services Ltd - to whom?
• 
  Sept.2004: Dyno-Rod plc and its subsidiary undertakings were acquired. Dyno-Rod provided specialist on-demand drain maintenance, operating through a network of franchises covering the UK and Ireland.
  Dyno-Rod was formed in 1963 in South London, initially specialising in the use of electromechanical machines for drain clearance. In 1965, the business began granting franchise licences; in the 1980s it moved into the home and property security business; in the 1990s it expanded into more general plumbing services. Dyno-Rod, Dyno-Rod.com, Dyno.com

British Gas Trading Ltd

• Sept.2017: Sold its 100% holding in Hydrocarbon Resources Ltd to its parent company GB Gas Holding Ltd.
• Feb.2017: Sold its investment in Lincs Wind Farm Ltd - to whom?
• 2012: British Gas Direct Employment Ltd.
• 2011: ECL Investments Ltd, and ECL Contracts Ltd. Also Hillserve Ltd.
• 2005: Acquired trade and assets of Electricity Direct (UK) Ltd
• 2001: Acquired trade and assets of Enron Direct

Centrica Hive Ltd

• Feb.2018: Centrica Hive Ltd: Centrica Connected Home Ltd's name was changed.
• Aug.2016: Acq'd Flowgem Ltd; the business was hived up into Centrica Hive.[Dec.2016 a/cs, p.28]
• Apr.2016: Centrica Connected Home Ltd: AlertMe.com's name was changed.
• Mar.2015: British Gas Trading Ltd acquired 100% of AlertMe.com's shares. Its subsidiaries, Alertme.com Inc (May.2009), Alertme.com GmbH (Jul.2010), and Wattbox Ltd (Aug.2011) all came with it. [Dec.2014 a/cs, p.26], AlertMe
• Dec.2011: Assets of ECL Contracts + HillServe Ltd > ECL Investments > British Gas Trading Ltd.
• Sept.2010: GB Gas Holding Ltd became a shareholder of AlertMe.com Ltd (+ it owed $$s to a ton of Jersey-reg. private equity bodies).
• Dec.2005: British Gas Trading Ltd acq'd Electricity Direct (UK) Ltd, a small electricity supplier. [Dec.2005 a/cs]

Articles

British Gas increases prices again amid predictions of energy shortgages and huge company profits.
© Andy Davey, 2013

• Dec.02.2018: British Gas engineers rebel against pension changes. Anger mounts among 11,000 engineers as Centrica seeks to ‘slash pensions’ while ‘ignoring executive pay’. Cost-cutting plans for the pensions will cause share prices to rise, benefiting share-holding execs. ...anger at company bosses, eg. chief executive Iain Conn, who enjoyed a 40% pay rise to £4.15m in 2016. Office staff at Centrica are also facing cuts to their pensions, which the Unison union have called an “unacceptable deal” that would make them work longer, pay more and get less. Adam Vaughan, The Guardian.

• Nov.22.2018: British Gas unable to mask customers' rush for the exit. Owner Centrica’s shrunken share price shows its investors are losing faith. Centrica is making progress, apparently; British Gas customers are fleeing at a rate of only 93,000 a month this year, as opposed to the 100,000-plus that were deserting on average every month during 2017. Nils Pratley, The Guardian.

• Sept.02.2018: British Gas pays out £2.65m. British Gas, the UK’s largest energy firm, has paid £2.65m in refunds and compensation after overcharging almost 100,000 customers who switched to new providers. Energy customers can ask to switch to another supplier, without penalty, up to 49 days before the end of a fixed-term deal. However, British Gas immediately applied a higher rate when householders said they wanted to move to another firm, allowing it to pocket an extra £782,000 from about 94,000 people. The company also provided 2.5m customers with incorrect terms and conditions that stated exit penalties would apply during the 49-day penalty-free period. British Gas wrongly charged 1,698 of these people exit fees, totalling £64,968. The company said it was a “system error”. Ali Hussain, The Times. See also British Gas pays out £2.65m for overcharging.

• Aug.10.2018: Another British Gas Price Increase in 2018. Bills To Increase By a Further £44 From 1 October, Meaning a £104 Compound Increase in 2018 For British Gas SVT Customers. Bictoria Arrington, Energy Helpline.

• Aug.01.2018: British Gas bills could rise again as pre-pay cap squeezes profit. British Gas has hinted that it could raise energy prices for 3.5 million households on its standard tariff for a second time this year after reporting a 16% drop in first-half profits. profits in the first six months had fallen to £321 million, despite raising its standard tariff by 5.5 per cent, or £60 a year, at the end of May. It was squeezed by a regulated cap on the prices it can charge 1.4 million other customers who are vulnerable or have pre-payment meters, as well as sharply rising wholesale costs and the loss of 286,000 people who switched suppliers. The drop in profits disappointed investors in Centrica]], the group that owns British Gas. Emily Gosden, The Times. See also Gas man comes under pressure.

• Apr.10.2018: Customers face above-inflation price hike as British Gas raises bills by 5.5%. The UK’s biggest energy supplier blamed the hike on rising wholesale gas and electricity prices, and govt policies such as renewable energy subsidies, which are paid through energy bills. The rise will hit 4.1 million of the firm’s 7.8 million customers, who will pay £60 extra a year from the end of May. The company confirmed it had also removed its cheapest deal, an online-only tariff. Energy minister Claire Perry said the rise showed why the govt was imposing a price cap. "We are disappointed by British Gas’s announcement of an unjustified price rise in its default tariff when customers are already paying more than they need to," she said. Mark Hodges, chief executive of Centrica Consumer, part of the British Gas parent company, said: “We fully understand that any price increase adds extra pressure on customers’ household bills. This increase we are announcing today is reflective of the costs we are seeing which are beyond our control.” Adam Vaughan, The Guardian.

• Apr.10.2018: British Gas price rise unjustified, says govt. A 5.5%, or £60 a year, rise in energy prices for British Gas customers on default deals has been branded as "unjustified" by the govt. The increase will take effect from 29 May and follows its 12.5% rise in electricity prices in Sept.2017. Energy regulator OfGem described the increase as "unwelcome" and encouraged householders to shop around. Ed Molyneux, head of research for switching service Look After My Bills, said: "The data is clear, there is simply no justification for price hikes now, especially when British Gas put their prices up last year. Costs are still under the peak that triggered the first round price rises last year." BBC Nes.

• Mar.02.2018: Global energy giants forced to adapt to rise of renewables. British Gas owner Centrica is halfway through a sometimes painful reinvention of itself as a customer-centric energy company, divesting its old, large power stations to focus on selling services such as smart heating systems, as well as gas and electricity. Adam Vaughan, The Guardian.

2017

• Nov.24.2017: British Gas share price proffers fuel for thought. Iain Conn, chief executive of Centrica, has already cut shareholders’ dividend once during his three-year stint – by 30%, no less, in 2015. Nils Pratley, The Guardian.
• Nov.22.2017: British Gas ditches standard tariffs… but who will feel the benefits? Standard variable tariffs (SVTs) are the tariff you roll on to with your supplier after your current deal ends. If you’re with the Big Six energy suppliers they’re the most expensive and worst value for money. British Gas boss Iain Conn came out yesterday saying he’s scrapping SVTs for new customers. But what happens to the 5 million British Gas customers – 69% of all its customers – who are on their appalling value standard tariff? (Synopsis: it's a con job). The Big Deal Blog,

• Nov.20.2017: British Gas scraps standard tariff for new customers. British Gas will scrap its expensive standard variable tariffs (SVTs) by Apr.2018 for new customers. It says this will lower average bills. Similar moves have already been announced by both E.On and Scottish Power. Earlier this year, draft legislation designed to lower the cost of energy bills was published by the government. The legislation will give energy regulator Ofgem the power to cap default tariffs. Iain Conn, chief executive of British Gas parent firm Centrica. British Gas also wants to see additional charges for social and environmental policies taken off energy bills. These include things like the Warm Home Discount and the Energy Company Obligation. According to a recent report by energy expert Professor Dieter Helm (see Scrivener), such charges account for 20% of the average energy bill. BBC News.

• Oct.25.2017: Consumers and businesses 'paying too much for energy'. Prof Dieter Helm, from Oxford University, was asked by the govt to examine how to reduce energy costs while achieving climate change targets. He concluded that energy-users should have benefited more from falling costs and technical efficiencies. He recommended a new default tariff to replace current variable tariffs. Since 2014, the price of oil, gas and coal had fallen significantly, contrary to govt forecasting. "Margins should be falling as competition should be increasing. Yet in this period, households and industry have seen limited benefits from these cost reductions. Prices have gone up, not down, for many customers." The main reason for that was green energy taxes, brought in to pay for renewable forms of generation, which he said made up about 20% of household bills. Prof Helm also recommended: ... ... Brian Milligan, BBC News.
• Aug.01.2017: British Gas to raise electricity prices. British Gas will increase electricity prices by 12.5% from 15 September, its owner Centrica has said, in a move that will affect 3.1 million customers. Gas prices are unchanged, but the average annual dual-fuel bill for a typical household on a standard tariff will rise by £76 to £1,120, up by 7.3%. Centrica said the price increase was its first since Nov.2013. Centrica chief executive Iain Conn told the BBC's Today programme that wholesale costs had gone down and were not the reason for the price rise; it was a result of transmission and distribution costs and the costs of govt policy. A spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: "Energy firms should treat all their customers fairly and we're concerned this price rise will hit many people already on poor value tariffs. The govt abandoned a manifesto promise to cap energy bills and instead threw this perennially hot potato to the regulator OfGem, which is currently consulting on what action to take. Shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead told the Today programme that he believed the govt should have acted on its pre-election promise of imposing a price cap on energy costs. Centrica Consumer chief executive Mark Hodges said: "We held off increasing prices for many months longer than most suppliers in order to protect our customers from rising costs, so it is a difficult decision to have to announce an increase in electricity prices." BBC News, '

• Aug.01.2017: British Gas to increase electricity prices by 12.5% next month. For a typical household on dual fuel, the average annual bill will increase by 7.3 per cent or £76. The company, which is owned by Centrica, said that it was leaving gas prices unchanged but that its standard electricity tariff will rise by 12.5% from Sept.15. For a typical household on dual fuel, the average annual bill will increase by 7.3% or £76, affecting over 3m customers. British Gas last raised prices in Nov.2013 and chief executive Mark Hodges said that some costs had risen steadily since then, including “govt policies to subsidise renewable energy, social levies, delivery to customers’ homes, and the nationwide smart metering programme”. Ahead of June's general election Theresa May pledged to introduce overarching price controls on energy bills but later Greg Clark confirmed that only 2.6m poorer families who qualify for the so-called Warm Home Discount would be helped – not the 17m promised on the campaign trail. Josie Cox, The Independent.

• May.08.2017: Theresa May lays out plan for state to control energy prices. The Conservative manifesto will include plans for price controls on energy bills, Theresa May has confirmed. The policy, a watered-down version of the energy price freeze announced by Ed Miliband before the 2015 general election, would limit the rate at which energy tariff rates can rise. The Prime Minister said the policy was part of her pledge to “step in when markets aren’t working, or take action when people are being taken advantage of”. Ms May wrote in an article for The Sun "I am making this promise: if I am re-elected on June 8, I will take action to end this injustice by introducing a cap on unfair energy price rises. It will protect around 17m families on standard variable tariffs from being exploited." Jon Stone, The Independent.

• Jan.05.2016: British Gas kills off 'switch to Sainsbury's Energy' loophole. For the last couple of years there's been a trick to get British Gas at far cheaper prices. That's because Sainsbury's Energy is a 'white label' of British Gas – in other words the same company but using a different brand – and for someone with typical usage it has been over £200 cheaper. Yet that trick won't work anymore as Sainsbury's Energy's changed its tariffs. Fraser Balaam, MoneySavingExpert.com.

• Jan.19.2015: British Gas and Sainsbury's Energy to cut gas prices by 5%. British Gas has become the second Big Six energy provider to announce price cuts this year, but the drop doesn't take effect until 27 February and the 5% reduction only applies to gas. Helen Knapman, MoneySavingExpert.com.

• Jul.04.2014: British Gas pays out after mis-selling Sainsbury's Energy deals. Over 4,000 British Gas customers have received compensation after British Gas admitted mis-selling energy over a 2-year period in supermarkets and in a west London shopping centre. The energy giant has admitted it exaggerated savings claims to prospective customers in Sainsbury's stores nationwide and at Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush between Feb.2011-Mar.2013. Paloma Kubiak, MoneySavingExpert.com.

2013

• Oct.18.2013: British Gas: energy bills price hike turns into PR disaster. British Gas has turned a consumer and political backlash over a 10% increase in energy bills into a public relations disaster after trying to head off criticism of the price hike by using social media, with nearly 16,000 Twitter comments during Q&A. The energy price increases – three times the level of inflation – will affect 16 million customers and came in for particular condemnation because the parent group, Centrica, had pledged earlier in the year to use windfall profits from last winter to keep prices down. David Cameron, who appointed the company's £4m-a-year boss Sam Laidlaw to his business advisory group in 2010, said the rise was very disappointing and urged customers to switch providers. Ed Davey, the energy secretary, said some of British Gas's numbers "just don't add up". Ian Peters, managing director of British Gas Residential Energy, defended his decision to use social media to engage with customers and the wider decision to raise bills. Peters said the decision to raise prices had not been taken lightly, but had been forced on the company by soaring costs. He blamed the price rises on higher wholesale gas costs, charges for transport and distribution and the cost of govt policies such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) to help insulate homes. Caroline Flint, the shadow energy secretary, said the British Gas move reinforced Labour's determination to introduce a price freeze if it returns to government in 2015. "This is the company that, with Centrica, has passed on the highest share of its profits to its shareholders while at the same time making the least amount of investment into what we need to ensure our energy security in the future." The Federation of Small Businesses said 40% of its members used British Gas and the "disgraceful" price increases would make life even harder for many struggling firms. Terry Macalister, Jennifer Rankin, The Guardian.

• Oct.17.2013: British Gas to raise prices by 9.2%. British Gas is to increase prices for domestic customers, with a dual-fuel bill going up by 9.2% from Nov.23. The increase, which will affect nearly 8m households, includes an 8.4% rise in gas prices and a 10.4% increase in electricity prices. David Cameron has urged consumers to switch suppliers. Rival SSE has already announced an 8.2% increase in bills from 15 November. BBC News.