The cold weather at the start of the year – which may seem like another world in today’s summer temperatures – benefited companies like British Gas, which today posted its huge profits for the first half.

Operating profits of £585 million – a rise of 98 per cent – were reported for the first two quarters of the year. 

With British households cranking up the heating during what was an unusually long and cold winter, British Gas reported gas usage up by 8 per cent.  

As the company that already supplies over half of the UK’s households, it also added 223,000 new customers.

Meanwhile another British-based energy company, BP, has officially announced Bob Dudley as its new CEO from October. 

Promising that the company will be “smaller and financially, it will grow”, Mr Dudley spoke not long after the firm had posted its large $17 billion loss for the second quarter.