British Gas lines up Chris Weston as new boss

Image caption, British Gas has about 16 million UK customers

The UK's biggest energy supplier, British Gas, plans to appoint Chris Weston as its new managing director.

it was proposing Mr Weston, the current head of Centrica's US retail gas business, to succeed Phil Bentley.

If approved by the board, it will be formally announced alongside Centrica's financial results on 27 February.

The company has denied reports that Mr Bentley is leaving because of a boardroom rift.

But it is understood that Mr Bentley had wanted to pursue a chief executive role and that was not going to be possible at Centrica.

British Gas has about 16 million customers in the UK.

The exact details of Mr Bentley's departure, after six years as managing director, have not yet been announced.

Unconfirmed newspaper reports suggested last month that he could leave with a total package, including shares and a pension, worth somewhere between 拢6m and 拢13m.