British Gas later said its calculation was based on customers paying by direct debt rather than quarterly or in cash. For customers taking gas only, the average annual bill will rise by £57 to £462. For electricity customers the average increase will be from £268 to £307.The move by British Gas, the market leader with 17.2 million customers, follows earlier increases by Powergen, which has 6 million customers, and EDF Energy, which owns London Electricity and Seeboard. But the independent consultancy uSwitch calculated that a family of four living in a three-bedroomed semi and consuming an average amount of gas and electricity would see bills rise by £104 a year to £821. Fuel bills are to soar for more than 17 million households after British Gas yesterday announced a big rise in gas and electricity prices. The company, part of the Centrica group, blamed the 14.2 per cent increase on the huge rise in the wholesale cost of gas and electricity caused by soaring oil prices and declining reserves of gas in the North Sea.
British Gas said the increase in prices would take the average bill to £754 for a customer taking both gas and electricity – a rise of £96.

“As rising oil prices and pressure from governments to reduce emissions force businesses to become more efficient, we can deliver appliances for them,” he said.. In 2001, only 10 per cent of the group’s sales were generated from overseas.Mr McGrath believes its developments in the commercial kitchen industries will generate further growth. Even against a slower backdrop, record profits were achieved.”Now one in every four Agas sold are outside the UK, up from one in five this time last year. The most popular destinations are France, Ireland and the east coast of the US.

But we had a plan to develop new products and grow our sales overseas. Pre-tax profits rose 16 per cent to £18m for the first half.
William McGrath, the chief executive of Aga, said: “The consumer market has been quiet and we are not expecting it to become more buoyant any time soon. Group sales were up 11 per cent over the first six months of the year to £225m, and the company is now generating more than half its sales from outside the UK. The company’s new range of electric ovens that are easier to install than the traditional models and a line of technologically advanced deep-fat fryers for the restaurant industry have helped Aga weather the consumer downturn in the UK. Aga Foodservice, the kitchen appliance group, posted a 16 per cent rise in first-half profits yesterday as its eponymous ovens gain popularity overseas. But this had been partly offset by the decline in staff turnover – down to 15 per cent a year compared with 30 per cent three years ago – which had reduced staff training costs.Mr Moyes said Go-Ahead was not putting an estimate on the increase in its fuel bills this year but said that every 1p increase in the price of a litre added £1m to its annual bill.Go-Ahead, which is bidding for Integrated Kent through its Govia partnership with the state-owned French rail company SNCF, is up against three rival bidders – FirstGroup, a consortium of Danish state railways and Stagecoach, and a partnership between GNER and MTR, the operator of Hong Kong’s mass transit system.Mr Moyes said that even if Govia was unsuccessful, it would bid for other rail franchises, starting with South West Trains which comes up for tender in 2006, and Midland Mainline the year after.The company also still expects to take over the Gatwick Express franchise from National Express and integrate it into existing Brighton mainline services.. But a £6m rise in Go-Ahead’s fuel costs, coupled with sharp increases in the wage bill and a decline in passenger numbers outside London, conspired to cut margins in the group’s bus business.