Hot news for British Gas shareholders

The timing is less than perfect but somewhere there are people experiencing a warm glow as it emerges that those who invested in the privatisation of British Gas 25 years ago have seen their initial outlay grow 12 times in size.

Needless to say, that increase is thanks to surging profits for the industry giant coming off the back of year-on-year increases in consumer bills. So forgive me if I suggest a few people will be left feeling cold, and not just because the temperature's dipped a bit today.