BG Group

British Gas became BG plc after a demerger to form Centrica. It gave the Labour Party more than £5,000 in sponsorship in 1998 and in 2000-2001. BG took over the transmission, exploration and production of gas from the former nationalised British Gas company.

David Varney, the Chief Executive of BG, was paid £474,150 in 1999 (and £433,873 in 1998), which he describes as 'enough to keep me satisfied'. His 'base' salary (before bonuses) for 2000 is £500,000. He holds options on 724,107 shares under a BG incentive scheme. He was a Director of Shell until 1996. He is Chair of the London New Deal Employer's Coalition and is a member of the Government's Ministerial Performance Review Panel for the New Deal. He was part of the Government's Welfare-to-Work Task Force in London, a position that Derek Draper, the former assistant to Peter Mandelson, said in 1998 that he had received because of pressure from BG's lobbying company GPC Market Access (BG denies this, of course). In a brochure for GPC, Varney is quoted as admitting the appointment to the Welfare-to-Work Taskforce gave him 'the opportunity to communicate...assessments of a particular situation clear and undiluted to senior Ministers. The insights into Government...are valuable in a wider business context.'

Dame Stella Rimington, former head of the UK's internal spy organisation, MI5, also sits on the board of BG as a Non-Executive Director (she was paid £25,000 in 1999).

Company history

• 1986 In August 1986 Privatisation of British Gas Corporation by the UKGovernment. All assets transferred to BritishGas plc, shares first traded in December.
• 1997 In February 1997 the shareholders of British Gas plc approved the demerger of Centrica plc. British Gas plc was renamed BG plc.
• 1999 In December 1999 BG plc completed a financial restructuring which resulted in the creation of a new parent company, BG Group plc.
• 2000 In October 2000 BG Group plc completed the demerger of Lattice Group plc creating two separate companies.
• 2002 In October 2002 Lattice Group plc merged with National Grid to form National Grid Transco.
• 2005 In July 2005 National Grid Transco plc was renamed National Grid plc to provide a unifying identity across its operations.