British Gas has more than doubled its profits for the first half of the year after cold weather prompted customers working from home to turn their heating up, and small companies began to reopen for business after Covid-19 lockdowns last year. Profits at the UK’s biggest energy supplier rose to £172m for the first six months of the year, from £78m in the same period last year, even after losing 114,000 home energy customers since the end of last year. Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of the British Gas owner, Centrica, said the unusually cold start to the year, compared with an unusually mild spring in 2020, helped ... (full story)