British Gas plc

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This page is about the former gas monopoly in the United Kingdom for information about the successor companies please see Centrica, BG Group and Transco.

British Gas
Type	Defunct
Founded	1986 Dissolved 1997
Headquarters
Industry	Utilities
Products	Gas
Website	www.britishgas.co.uk

British Gas plc was formerly the monopoly gas supplier in the United Kingdom.

Contents 1 History 2 Centralisation 3 Privatisation 4 Demerger 5 See also 6 Sources 7 External links

[edit] History

In the early 1900s the gas market in the United Kingdom was mainly run by county councils and small private firms.

In 1948 that all changed with the The Gas Act 1948 brought in by Clement Attlee's Labour government. The act nationalised the UK gas industry and 1062 privately owned and municipal gas companies were merged into twelve Area Gas Boards each a separate body with its own management structure. Each Area Board was divided into geographical groups or divisions which were often further divided into smaller districts. These boards simply became known as the "Gas Board" , a term people still use when referring to British Gas.

Gas Area Boards

No. Name of Area Board Description of area 1 Scottish Gas Board Scotland 2 Northern Gas Board Durham, Northumberland and parts of Cumberland, Westmorland and the North Riding of Yorkshire 3 North-Western Gas Board Lancashire and parts of Cheshire, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Shropshire, Westmorland and the West Riding of Yorkshire 4 North-Eastern Gas Board The East Riding of Yorkshire and parts of the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire (including York) 5 Wales Gas Board Wales and Monmouthshire 6 West Midlands Gas Board Parts of Cheshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire (including Birmingham) and Worcestershire 7 East Midlands Gas Board Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland and parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Staffordshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire 8 South Western Gas Board Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Gloucestershire and parts of Berkshire, Devon, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire 9 North Thames Gas Board Parts of the administrative County of London and of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Surrey 10 Eastern Gas Board Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, the Isle of Ely, Norfolk, the Soke of Peterborough, Suffolk and parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex 11 Southern Gas Board Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Devon, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire 12 South Eastern Gas Board Kent, and parts of the administrative County of London and of Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex

Map of Gas Area Boards

During the 1950s the use of gas increased greatly with British Gas creating high street showrooms to promote the use of gas. By the 1960s the UK was importing 300,000 tons of liquefied natural gas from Africa every year.

Surveys in the North Sea had shown that there were large reserves of natural gas and in 1966 the decision was taken to convert the UK from town gas to natural gas. The next year the first natural gas from the North Sea had arrived and over the next 10 years British Gas carried out a massive conversion programme converting appliances from town gas to natural gas.

[edit] Centralisation

In 1974 British Gas was restructured with The Gas Act 1972 which centralized the company creating the British Gas Corporation and turning the area boards into regions of the new company.

[edit] Privatisation

The 1986 Gas Act led to the privatisation of the company, and on 8th December its shares floated on the London stock market. In the hope of encouraging individuals to become shareholders, the offer was intensely advertised with the "If you see Sid, tell him" campaign. The initial public offering of 135p per share valued the company at £9 billion, the highest equity offering ever at the time.

The government created an industry regulator, the Office of Gas Supply (Ofgas), to protect customer needs. It would later become part of the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem).

In preparation for the opening of the gas supply markets to competition in 1996, British Gas plc had to go through a major restructuring which separated the company into five divisions.

• Public Gas Supply (Domestic gas supply).
• Contract Trading (Business Supply)
• Transportation and Storage later named Transco (Transporting and storage of gas).
• Service and Installation (Later named Services).
• Retail (Later named Energy Centres).

[edit] Demerger

Following the restructuring, with shareholder approval, British Gas plc was demerged to form two separate companies on 17 February 1997.

• Centrica plc
  • Took responsibility of the gas supply business and the gas production business of the North and South Morecambe gas fields. Centrica has the rights to the British Gas name inside the UK.

• BG plc included:
  • Took responsibility of Transco the gas transportation business and the international exploration and production business. BG plc went through a financial restructuring in 1999. This resulted in a new parent company being created, BG Group plc, which subsequently demerged into two new business BG Group plc and Lattice Group plc. Lattice which contained to Transco business then went on to merge with the National Grid Company. BG Group has the rights to the British Gas name outside the UK.

Shareholders received one BG share and one Centrica share for every British Gas share.

[edit] See also

• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• UK topics

[edit] Sources

Chandler, Dean and Lacey, A. Douglas (1949) The Rise of the Gas Industry in Britain. British Gas Council, London.

Scott-Wilson, D. (1972) North Sea Heritage: The Story of Britain's Natural Gas. The Gas Council, London.

Cassidy, Richard. (1979) Gas: Natural Energy. Fredrick Muller Ltd London. ISBN-13: 978-0584620566

Peebles, Malcolm W.H. (1980) Evolution of the Gas Industry. The Macmillan Press, London and Basingstoke. ISBN 0-333-27971-9.

Williams, Trevor I. (1981) A History of the British Gas Industry, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-858157-2.

Barry-King, Hugh. (1984) New Flame. How Gas changed the commercial, domestic and industrial life of Britain between 1883 and 1984. Graphmitre Ltd, Tavistock, Devon UK.

Hutchison, Sir Kenneth, (1987) High Speed Gas: An autobiography. Duckworth, London. ISBN 0-7156-2200-5.

• [1] - BBC article about Gas Prices

• [2] - Guardian article about British Gas

[edit] External links

• britishgas.co.uk - diagram of the demerger with links to demerged company websites
• House.co.uk - The official British Gas online home management service site.
• House.co.uk Bills - pay and manage your British Gas bill online.
• House.co.uk DIY - DIY advice and guides from British Gas.
• House.co.uk Central Heating - British Gas central heating systems and advice.
• House.co.uk Security - British Gas home security help and advice.
• National Grid National Gas Archive - Includes contact details for the archives of British Gas and its predecessors, and a history of gas supply in the UK.

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