What It Does: Centrica specialises in energy supply services and solutions. It also owns a subsidiary that handles drainage, plumbing, and heating in the home. Another subsidiary it owns provides smart home products and vital end-to-end solutions for houses across the UK.
Mission: Centrica's mission statement is to satisfy the dynamic needs of our customers and the transition to a lower carbon future.
Size and Presence: Centrica's workforce in the UK comprises several thousand workers across 5 locations in the UK.
Best Known For: Centrica is best known as one of the leading energy companies in the world. Centrica is also the biggest supplier of gas to residents in the UK. Centrica won the first edition of the Oil & Gas Authority Maximising Economic Recovery (MER) UK Award.
The Good Bits: The pay is good. Centrica has a great working culture. Centrica's working environment is conducive and inclusive. The company offers numerous employment incentives to its workers.
The Not-So-Good Bits: The job is demanding.
The origin of the company dates back to the incorporation of Gas Light and Coke Company in the early 19th century. From its humble beginnings, the company has grown through the acquisition of other gas-supplying firms to become the largest supplier of gas to a large part of London. The Gas Act of 1948 transferred the company's ownership to North Thames Gas Board, a governmental body. In 1973, the National British Gas Corporation was born from a merger of several area gas boards. Thanks to the Gas Act of 1986, this merged gas board was privatised and renamed British Gas Plc.
In 1997, British Gas Plc split into three separate entities: Transco Plc, BG Plc, and Centrica Plc. The latter assumed control of the gas production, sales, and trading operations. Until 1998, Centrica enjoyed a monopoly of gas supply to UK residents. In mid-1999, Centrica acquired AA for £1.1 bn. Two years later, it purchased One. Tel, breaking into the UK’s telecoms market. In mid-2004, Centrica sold off AA to several private equity firms for £1.75 bn. In 2010, the company bought Cool Planet Technologies Ltd for £500k. In mid-2020, the company sold off Direct Energy to channel more focus into its domestic markets.
Centrica is a model employer because it believes every worker should have a voice and be able to state their opinions. The company has created an environment where everyone can feel motivated to be at their best. Employees are on good terms with each other and frequently collaborate to get the job done. Centrica opens its doors to freshers, interns, and experienced professionals regardless of ethnicity, religion, political affiliations, socioeconomic background, sexuality, gender, age, marital status, gender identity, etc. Centrica has several employee-led communities which help to enhance inclusion in the organisation. Some of them include BROD, Spectrum, etc. Centrica’s dress code is smart casual.
Centrica is one of the best companies to launch a career in, from freshers to interns, because of the amazing career development opportunities it provides. Centrica's summer internship programme targets enterprising and promising undergraduates and seeks to immerse them in a structured learning experience through working on real projects and support from an extensive network. This programme is a gateway to the graduate programme. The latter targets recent graduates who will be trained via rotational development programmes across various operational areas in the company. Centrica also offers its training and apprenticeship program to people who are interested in combining work with learning.
A fresher working at Centrica will earn an average yearly salary of £40,000.
In 2021, Centrica donated £305 million in both voluntary and compulsory contributions to help customers and non-customers with grants, energy efficiency, and debt advice. The company also partners with local charities in the UK.
Centrica has no widely published controversy in the UK.