He has publicly apologised for the way debt collectors forced people who could not pay their bills to have prepayment meters fitted. Chris O'Shea is head of British Gas’s parent company Centrica.
He became the face of a scandal that appalled the nation, after The Times revealed that debt agents forced their way into the homes of vulnerable people on behalf of his company. Responding to the investigation, O’Shea said he was 'really, really sorry.'
He told Sky News: “We’ve clearly got it wrong here and we are going to fix that.” He said contractor Arvato 'let us down' but ultimately accepted he was 'accountable' for it.
Who is British Gas boss Chris O'Shea
According to The Times, he is still thought to live in the same Reading home he bought over a decade ago for £950,000, which is now understood to be worth £1.5 million. The 49-year-old is married with three children, was born in Fife and moved to Glasgow when he was 11.
He went to comprehensive school and after not being accepted into Oxford to study law, he studied accounting at Glasgow University. A keen runner, he also still watches Celtic FC with his school friends, he told The Guardian.
O’Shea started out as a chartered accountant at Stevenson & Kyles. He worked for companies including Ernst & Young and Shell before joining Centrica in 2018. After roles as chief financial officer and interim chief executive, he took up his present position in April 2020.
In an interview, he said he has never been motivated by money and said he empathised with the pain that Ofgem, the energy regulator, raising the cap on gas and electricity bills for most people would cause households across the country.
“Every week we hear from customers struggling to make ends meet — whether filling up the car, doing the weekly shop or finding the money to heat their home,” he said in a press release, as he announced that his company was putting another £2 million into the British Gas energy support fund.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today, he said: “This happened when people were acting on behalf of British Gas. There is nothing that can be said to excuse it.” Arvato Financial Solutions has said that it acted “compliantly at all times in accordance with the regulatory requirements”.
