Weston walking away from British Gas

The head of Centrica’s British Gas division, Chris Weston, is leaving the company.

 Announced last Thursday, his departure is the latest of other high-profile departures that leave a leadership vacuum as the group contends with public and political anger over soaring energy bills.

Weston is leaving to become the chief executive officer at Aggreko, the world’s biggest provider of temporary power, which now faces its own leadership void because its new recruit is subject to a 12-month notice period at Centrica.

 Aggreko has been without a chief executive since Rupert Soames left to lead support services company Serco earlier this year. Angus Cockburn, formerly Aggreko’s finance director, was appointed to run the business as interim CEO, but he will be leaving the company later in the year.

The company said it had chosen Weston because of his wide experience at Centrica, where he is responsible for operations at both British Gas and Direct Energy in the United States, with combined revenue of 22 billion pounds ($36.75 billion), profit of 1.3 billion pounds and more than 35,000 employees.

 Aggreko said that Weston was unlikely to take up the new post until 2015, once he had “completed his commitments at Centrica”. Centrica gave no details as to a succession plan for Weston, who only took on the British Gas role last summer.

 The loss of Weston leaves the energy supplier’s parent company Centrica searching to replace all of its top three executives, as it follows the announcement in January that finance director Nick Luff is to leave Centrica this year and comes at the same time as the British group’s board makes preparations for the expected exit of long-serving CEO Sam Laidlaw.

Weston had been seen as the strongest internal candidate to succeed Sam Laidlaw as chief executive of Centrica. He is understood to have been interviewed for the role but missed out, amid doubts about his leadership experience. 

A further announcement on the timing of Weston’s departure will be made in due course, Centrica said. But that leaves Aggreko facing the possibility of being without a CEO for five months if Cockburn leaves at the end of this year. 

 An Aggreko spokesman said the company would make appropriate arrangements if Weston’s notice period leaves it without an interim CEO.