The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report.
Click here for further details

Centrica Centrica has won government approval to build a 250MW wind farm with up to 83 turbines off the coast of Lincolnshire by 2011. 24-Oct-2008 Centrica has acquired Semplice Energy, the Reading-based low carbon solutions firm with 21 staff, for £1.5m, in order to expand its British Gas New Energy division. 23-Oct-2008 Centrica has acquired Building Management System Integrators, the supplier of building control systems with 69 staff in Slough, London, Hove, Banbury and Chester, for £7m. 17-Oct-2008 Centrica has acquired Solar Technologies Group, the solar energy installation contractor, for £2.8m. 30-Sep-2008 Centrica is to acquire the Caythorpe gas storage facility in East Yorkshire from Warwick Energy for £70m, and will invest £100m to make the site operational by 2012. 23-Sep-2008 Centrica is looking to raise up to £1.5bn from financial investors to fund its planned £3.5bn wind farm development programme. 14-Jul-2008 Centrica has won three government licences to explore for gas in the coal fields of South Wales, and development at the sites in Caerphilly and the Rhondda and Swansea Valleys could start by 2014. 07-Jul-2008 Centrica is to acquire Strategic Energy, the electricity supplier, for £151m, in order to expand its Direct Energy business in the US. 03-Apr-2008 Centrica and Gaz de France are planning to set up a £300m offshore gas storage facility in the East Irish Sea by 2011. 31-Mar-2008 Centrica is looking to invest significant sums in new onshore and offshore gas storage projects, in order to almost double the UK's storage capacity by 2010. 15-Nov-2007 Centrica is to acquire Newfield UK Holdings, the North Sea gas production company, from Newfield Exploration of the US for £242m. 17-Sep-2007 Centrica is to shed a further 300 back-office jobs at British Gas by the end of the year, on top of the 500 already planned. 21-Aug-2007 Centrica is considering plans to build another 800MW gas-fired power plant at one of its existing sites in Kings Lynn or Peterborough. 14-Aug-2007 Centrica has acquired a 50% stake in the Braes of Doune onshore wind farm project in Stirlingshire from Airtricity for £42m. 03-Aug-2007 Centrica is seeking government permission for a £400m wind farm project off the Lincolnshire coast, and hopes to start construction in 2009. 16-Feb-2007 Centrica is planning to shed 700 British Gas back office jobs, 340 British Gas Services jobs, 270 corporate jobs and relocate the headquarters from Stockley Park to Staines. 18-Dec-2006 Centrica is planning to build a £1bn clean-coal power station on Teesside by 2012, and will conduct a feasibility study over the next two years. 09-Nov-2006 Centrica is to proceed with plans to build a £400m gas-fired power station at Langage near Plymouth, and Alstom will start construction work within a few months. 19-Jun-2006 Centrica has bought the customer base of Entergy Solutions within the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas grid for £17m, in order to expand its US-based Direct Energy subsidiary. 25-Apr-2006 Centrica is planning to start selling gas and electricity to industrial customers in Germany later this year, and will employ 15 staff at an office in Dusseldorf. 07-Mar-2006 Centrica has submitted plans to Castle Point Council for the development of a £200m liquefied natural gas import facility at Canvey Island by 2010. 09-Jan-2006 Carphone Warehouse is to acquire Onetel from Centrica for an initial £132m, as well as the UK fixed-line telecoms business of Tele2 for £8.7m. 20-Dec-2005 Centrica is planning to shed hundreds of back-office jobs and reduce its cost base by £180m by 2007. 19-Dec-2005 Centrica is to sell its 49% stake in the Accuread gas meter reading business to GSL Utility Services for £11m. 12-Oct-2005 Centrica has announced a £150m deal to increase its stake in the South Humber Bank gas-fired power station from 60 to 100%, as part of a strategy to supply more of its customers from its own sources. 21-Sep-2005 Centrica is to spend £2.5bn securing new gas reserves over the next five years, and is currently bidding for Caledonia Oil & Gas, the North Sea operator that could fetch up to £300m. 15-Sep-2005 Centrica is said to be considering plans to sell off its OneTel telecoms business, having received a number of potential takeover approaches. 12-Sep-2005 Centrica is to acquire stakes in four North Sea gas fields from Kerr-McGee for £318m, in order to secure supplies for its British Gas customers. 09-Aug-2005 Centrica is considering plans to shed up to 2,000 back-office jobs at British Gas offices in Manchester, Oldham and Solihull, following the introduction of a computerised billing system. 18-Jul-2005 Centrica has paid £5m for a 40% stake in a gas exploration licence off the coast of East Yorkshire, and has also acquired a 20% stake in a liquefied natural gas project at Canvey Island. 18-Jul-2005 Centrica has acquired a 51% stake in SPE, the Belgian power generating company, in a £507m joint venture with Gaz de France that also involves the sale of Centrica's Luminus business to SPE. 27-Jun-2005 Centrica is to acquire Oxxio, the Dutch energy supplier with 95 staff, for £92m. 07-Jun-2005 Centrica has sold British Gas Connections, its gas transportation business, to Kellen Ventures, a new company formed by East Surrey Holdings and Terra Firma, for £90m. 20-May-2005 Centrica has acquired REDNET, the internet service provider, for £5m, in order to expand its Onetel division. 25-Apr-2005 Centrica is planning to recruit 300 technology experts in the Reading area, in order to handle the upgrade of its customer management and billing systems. 31-Mar-2005 Centrica is inviting tenders to build a £400m gas-fired power station plant at Langage near Plymouth. 16-Mar-2005 Centrica has acquired BASE Controls, the Canadian automation and controls company, for £6.3m. 04-Nov-2004 Centrica has acquired Glens of Foudland Wind Farm, the 26MW onshore wind farm project near Huntly in Scotland, from Renewable Energy Systems in a £31m deal. 12-Oct-2004 Centrica has acquired Dyno-Rod, the drain clearing company with 89 franchises, for £58m. 04-Oct-2004 Centrica has acquired Residential Services Group, the US home maintenance company with 2,000 staff, for £83m, in order to expand its Direct Energy subsidiary. 29-Sep-2004 Centrica has acquired Telco Global, the telecoms company, for £43m, gaining access to 238,000 fixed-line residential customers. 27-Sep-2004 Centrica is considering plans to invest £300m in a project to import natural gas from Turkmenistan, as part of a joint venture with Gazprom of Russia and Naftogaz of Ukraine. 16-Aug-2004 Centrica has agreed a 15-year contract with Petronas to import 45bn cubic metres of liquefied natural gas to the planned Dragon LNG terminal at Milford Haven from 2007. 12-Aug-2004 Centrica has agreed to sell the AA motoring organisation to a company formed by CVC Capital Partners and Permira Advisers for £1.7bn. 02-Jul-2004 Centrica is in talks to sell the AA motoring organisation for up to £1.5bn, and a shortlist of bidders has been drawn up. 22-Jun-2004 Centrica is to acquire the Killingholme gas power station near Grimsby for £142m, in order to secure its winter electricity supplies. 09-Jun-2004 Centrica is to shed up to 850 management and support jobs in its British Gas division, as part of a cost-cutting campaign. 04-Jun-2004 Centrica has acquired Quintana Minerals Canada Investments, the Canadian natural gas producer, for £21m, in order to expand its Direct Energy division. 05-May-2004 Centrica is to acquire Bastrop Energy Partners, the owner of the Bastrop Energy Center power station in Texas, from US-based FPL Energy for £80m. 23-Apr-2004 Centrica has acquired an option to purchase Wainstones Power, the owner of land and consents for developing a 1,000MW gas-fired power station in Plymouth. 22-Apr-2004 Centrica is to acquire offshore oil and gas assets in UK and Norwegian waters from ChevronTexaco for £61m. 20-Jan-2004 Centrica has acquired two adjacent offshore wind farm sites in south Lincolnshire from AMEC Investment and Offshore Wind Power for an initial £7m. 24-Dec-2003 Centrica is to invest £1.5m at the Roosecote power station in Barrow, securing the future of 35 jobs. 23-Dec-2003 Centrica is to invest £100m in the development of an offshore wind farm near Barrow-in-Furness, in partnership with DONG of Denmark and Statkraft of Norway. 15-Sep-2003 Centrica has won a contract from Norsk Hydro to build and operate a terminal at Easington to handle the import of gas from Norway by 2007. 18-Aug-2003 Centrica has agreed to sell the Goldfish credit card and personal loans business to Lloyds TSB in a £112m deal. 01-Aug-2003 Centrica is planning to spend £500m on the development of 1,000 MW of renewable energy by 2010, which will mainly involve offshore wind farms. 01-Aug-2003 Centrica is to acquire a power station in South Wales from AES of the US for £40m. 25-Jul-2003 Centrica has been warned by the Competition Commission that it may have to sell the recently-acquired Rough gas storage facility in the North Sea, in order to ensure that competitors have better access. 09-May-2003 Centrica is to acquire the Roosecote gas-fired power station in Barrow-in-Furness out of administration for £24m. 23-Apr-2003 Centrica is to acquire the remaining 60% stake in the North Sea's Rose Field from BG Group, in return for £7.3m and a 1.5% stake in the Armada Field. 18-Dec-2002 Centrica is to raise £289m from the sale of the recently-acquired Enbridge water heaters business in Canada to The Consumer's Waterheater Income Fund, and some of the proceeds may be used for further acquisitions in North America. 10-Dec-2002 Centrica has announced the £304m acquisition of Dynegy Storage and Dynegy Onshore Processing, the owner of the Rough offshore gas storage facility in the North Sea and onshore processing facilities at Easington, Yorkshire. 15-Nov-2002 Centrica has sold British Gas LPG, its liquefied petroleum gas business with 400 staff and 23 depots, to DCC of Ireland for £41m. 05-Nov-2002 Centrica is said to be considering plans to sell its liquefied petroleum gas business, which delivers gas to remote rural areas and employs about 400 staff. 31-Oct-2002 Centrica Business Services has submitted plans to build a new office at Grove Park in Leicester, which would involve the creation of up to 200 new jobs and the relocation of staff from existing sites. 15-Oct-2002 Centrica has acquired Electricity Direct UK, the supplier of power to 97,000 commercial customers, for £63m. 06-Aug-2002 Centrica has acquired Regional Power Generators, the owner of the Glandford Brigg power station in Lincolnshire, from IVO Energy for £37m. 01-Jul-2002 Centrica has acquired Tyreserve, the supplier of replacement tyres via a nationwide network, for £0.4m. 06-Jun-2002 Centrica has agreed to take the full output of a £425m 860MW gas-fired power plant to be built by InterGen in Spalding, and has also secured planning permission to build a £60m natural gas terminal at Barrow-in-Furness. 23-May-2002 Centrica is to acquire Central Power & Light and West Texas Utilities from American Electric Power for about £100m. 18-Apr-2002 Centrica has confirmed plans to set up a call centre for the Goldfish credit card at Atlantic Quay in Glasgow by July, with the creation of 200 jobs. 12-Apr-2002 Centrica has won a banking licence for its new Goldfish joint venture with Lloyds TSB, and a Glasgow-based call centre with 200 staff will deal with the customers. 18-Mar-2002 Centrica is to expand its Luminus joint venture in Belgium through the £5m acquisition of the electricity customers of four municipal utilities. 15-Mar-2002 Centrica is in negotiations to acquire NewPower, the US energy trader, for £87m, in order to gain a further 650,000 North American customers. 25-Feb-2002 Centrica has raised £426m in a share placing to fund acquisitions and the expansion of its US electricity and gas supply business. 22-Feb-2002 Centrica is to acquire the household heating services division of Enbridge, the Canadian energy distribution group, for £437m. 29-Jan-2002 Centrica has acquired Iomart's broadband telecoms reselling business, which includes two customer service facilities and 40 staff, for £2m. 10-Jan-2002 Centrica has announced that its British Gas Trading subsidiary has agreed to acquire the energy customer business of Enron Direct out of administration for £96m. 06-Dec-2001 Centrica is to acquire Trolhurst, the provider of gas appliance servicing and central heating installation services, for £8.5m, gaining 450 additional staff in London, Glasgow, Newcastle and Shrewsbury. 03-Dec-2001 Centrica has announced the £62m purchase of North Sea and Irish Sea gas reserves from four companies - Innogy, Kerr-McGee, Amerada Hess and Burlington Resources. 23-Nov-2001 Centrica is looking to acquire a further 1,000MW of power station capacity in the UK, and is also aiming for expansion in the UK water services and the US gas and electricity markets. 07-Sep-2001 Centrica is to invest £12m in the launch of a new smartcard for golfers, in partnership with the English Golf Union and AdvancedWare. 30-Aug-2001 Centrica has bought long-term operating leases on two power stations in Peterborough and King's Lynn from TXU Europe for £174m, in order to boost its electricity generating capacity. 27-Aug-2001 Centrica has acquired 129 Halfords garages from Boots for £5.7m, and will invest £10m in the sites in order to expand the range of motoring services offered by its AA division. 26-Jul-2001 Centrica is to acquire a 50% stake in Luminus, a newly-formed energy supply business in Belgium, for £52m. 02-Jul-2001 Centrica has acquired a 60% stake in Humber Power, the owner of a gas-fired power plant in Stallinborough, in a £52m deal that will see TotalElfFina take the remaining 40%. 30-May-2001 Centrica is considering plans to invest about £1bn on acquisitions and organic growth in North America, where it aims to have 10m gas and electricity customers by 2003. 23-Feb-2001 Lloyds TSB is to form a partnership between its Evolvebank subsidiary and Centrica next year to launch a new online bank under the Goldfish brand. 14-Dec-2000 Centrica has taken full control of its US energy supply joint venture Energy America, with the £38m purchase of Sempra Energy's 72% stake in the company. 13-Dec-2000 Centrica is to acquire Avalanche Energy, the Canadian oil and gas explorer, for £115m, as part of a strategy to expand its customer base in North America. 02-Nov-2000 Centrica is looking to significantly expand its Goldfish financial services business by forming partnerships in credit cards, home loans and insurance. 08-Sep-2000 Centrica is to acquire Direct Energy, the Canadian natural gas retailer, for £406m, and will use it as a platform for further North American growth. 07-Jul-2000 Centrica is to relocate its Wharf Lane site in Solihull to Blythe Valley Park, with the transfer of up to 1,000 staff. 22-May-2000 Centrica is to locate its new telecoms business in Manchester, with the creation of more than 800 jobs. 27-Apr-2000 Centrica is to expand its telecoms business, with Vodafone providing mobile telecoms services to its customers and Torch Telecom and Cable & Wireless Communications providing fixed network capacity. 26-Apr-2000 Centrica is planning to link up with Sharepeople to launch an online sharedealing service under the Goldfish brand later this year. 30-Mar-2000 Centrica is to invest £150m in a telecoms and internet service to be launched in September, and will recruit 450 staff for a new call centre. 25-Feb-2000 Centrica is forming a joint venture with Essent, the Dutch multi-utility, to develop wholesale energy trading in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. 18-Feb-2000 Centrica is seeking 80,000 sq ft of office space to set up a new headquarters in the Heathrow area. 29-Nov-1999 Centrica is acquiring gas assets in the southern North Sea from Veba Oil and Total Oil Marine at a cost of £13m. 08-Oct-1999 Centrica is seeking alliances with energy utilities in continental Europe, and is also planning to add telecoms to its range of home services. 10-Sep-1999 Centrica is to close its 243 gas showrooms over the next few weeks with the loss of 1,445 jobs, blaming the effect of competition from out-of-town retailers. 20-Jul-1999 Centrica has agreed to buy the AA vehicle breakdown organisation for £1.1bn, and jobs are expected to be lost when the two companies start sharing support services such as call centres. 06-Jul-1999 Centrica is in negotiations to acquire the AA's vehicle recovery business. 24-Jun-1999 Centrica is to close a British Gas call centre in Croydon and a billing centre in Barnet, with the loss of up to 650 jobs, as they had been operating at less than 50% of capacity. 14-Apr-1999 Centrica is said to be interested in bidding for the RAC's motoring services division, as part of a strategy to become a leading provider of household services. 22-Feb-1999 Centrica is buying a 5% stake in the North Sea's Victor gas field and a 10% stake in two blocks in Morecambe Bay from Dana Petroleum for about £10m. 09-Feb-1999 Centrica has awarded a £65m contract to Amey for the management of its business support services throughout the country, including security, catering, portering and postal services. 06-Jan-1999 Centrica has raised £92m from the sale and leaseback of two Irish Sea gas platforms to Bankers Trust. 30-Dec-1998 Centrica is acquiring the gas field interests of PowerGen for £248m, which will increase its reserves in the Irish Sea and take it into North Sea production for the first time. 13-Oct-1998 Sainsbury has formed a joint venture with Centrica to sell electricity through its stores, and it will offer bonus points on its loyalty card scheme. 06-Oct-1998 Centrica is considering plans to buy a power station in order to become a dominant force in the domestic electricity sector, and has already begun discussions with National Power and PowerGen. 11-Sep-1998 Centrica has renegotiated three further take-or-pay gas contracts with Fina, Agip and Philips, and will make up-front payments to the companies in return for a reduction in prices to market levels. 24-Feb-1998 Ofgas has dropped plans to prevent electricity companies from winning new gas customers in their regions until their regions are opened up to competition in electricity, a decision which has angered the largest gas supplier Centrica. 28-Jan-1998 Centrica has renegotiated the terms of its take-or-pay contract with Chevron, which, along with the new deals with other suppliers, means that the average price of gas it buys is down from 19p a therm to about 15p. 08-Jan-1998 EU ministers have agreed a timetable to deregulate the European gas market, opening up 20% of each country's market in the first five years and providing opportunities for Centrica to export through the Interconnector pipeline. 09-Dec-1997 Centrica has renegotiated take-or-pay gas contracts with Elf, Conoco and Total, at a cost of £365m, but it is unlikely to renegotiate the remaining 30% of its take-or-pay contracts. 05-Dec-1997 Centrica is linking up with Privilege, the special risks insurer, to offer household insurance to customers and claims it will be able to reduce bills by an average £75. 02-Dec-1997 Centrica has announced plans to move into the domestic electricity supply market next year with 15% price discounts, and it claims it will be the only national supplier of both gas and electricity. 30-Oct-1997 Centrica is reducing prices to gas customers who pay by direct debit by 9% next January, giving a saving of about £28 per year to about 6 million customers. 12-Sep-1997 Centrica has signed a contract to supply gas to the Elsta co-generation project in the Netherlands through the Interconnector pipeline, the first such deal with a major European end-user. 16-Jul-1997 Centrica has renegotiated three more take-or-pay gas supply deals, and the contracts, which were with Amerada Hess, OMV and Enterprise, will terminate in October 1998. 05-Jul-1997 Centrica is planning to renegotiate up to one third of its "take-or-pay" North Sea gas supply contracts by next April. 24-Jun-1997 Ofgas is launching an investigation into whether Centrica's Goldfish credit card, which allows users to accrue points for offsetting against gas bills, is anti-competitive. 31-May-1997 Centrica has won Ofgas approval to offer 5% discounts to direct debit customers in the south west of England, the test area for gas supply competition, but Ofgas has warned that this should not be seen as a precedent for other areas. 29-May-1997 Centrica has agreed a contract to supply 3bn cu m of gas over seven years to Thyssengas through the Interconnector pipeline from October 1998. 15-May-1997 Centrica has taken over control of operations at Accord Energy, the gas trading joint venture set up with NGC of the US, although NGC will remain a shareholder. 04-Mar-1997 More from the Energy sector Related pages: University of East Anglia Centrica East of England Development Agency Northern Petroleum Stiebel Eltron Centrica website: www.centrica.co.uk The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2008