BP has shut one of its platforms near the Shetland Islands after an oil spill that is sure to attract further unwelcome attention to the UK firm’s environmental record. The 95 tonne, 665 barrel spill was blamed on a “technical issue” at BP’s Clair platform on Sunday. Although the leak was limited in scale, it was halted within an hour of the problem arising. The timing could hardly have been worse for the group. The release last week of Deepwater Horizon, a big budget Hollywood dramatisation of BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has thrust the risks of offshore production and exploration back into the public eye. The latest spill was nowhere near the 3m barrels released after the deadly blast on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, however the environmental group said it highlighted “the dangers posed on a daily basis by oil and gas operations off the coast of Scotland”. BP said the oil “was released to the sea from the Clair platform as a result of a technical issue with the system designed to separate the mixed production fluids of water, oil and gas”. The group added: “We are investigating the cause of the technical issue and the field will remain offline for the time being.” “At present, we believe the most appropriate response is to allow the oil to disperse naturally at sea, but contingencies for other action are being prepared. “Oil has been observed on the sea surface and we are monitoring its movement. Both direct observation and oil spill modelling indicate the oil to be moving in a northerly direction away from land.” The Clair platform, located 75km west of the Shetlands, is on the frontier between the North Sea and the Atlantic. The area has some of the biggest remaining reserves of oil and gas in the UK, though deeper water and hostile weather means that it is more difficult and expensive to extract in comparison with shallower parts of the North Sea.

First Utility has reported an 84% fall in pre-tax profits, despite growing its customer base by a quarter. The supplier’s annual financial report showed that profits fell to £1.7 million last year, from £10.8 million the previous year, though the number of customer accounts increased to 883,000. The accounts show that the additional energy customers drove a 51% annual revenue growth, however administrative expenses went up during the year by 62% as a result of “continued investment in acquiring and serving the significant growth in customer numbers”. First Utility blamed some of the profit loss on “abnormally warm weather in November and December 2015”. First Utility Chief Executive Ian McCaig commented: “We continued to make strong progress against our strategy in 2015, growing our customer base by 25 per cent to 883,000 and increasing our revenues by 51 per cent to £847 million. “A key focus of 2015 was investing for the next stage in our development. We increased the pace of investment in line with our ambitions to ensure we are well-positioned to capitalise on future growth opportunities and that customers remain at the heart of our proposition.” McCaig said that the acquisition of the firm’s billing platform assets from its third party provider marked an “acceleration of our plans to build our next generation billing platforms”. First Utility also grew overseas, launching in Germany last September in a partnership with Shell Energy Europe. McCaig added: “Having made these major strategic investments and navigated the volatility in markets generated by the warmest winter since records began, First Utility still continued to be the only of the new generation of independents to grow its track record of profitability and showed that low prices can be delivered to UK householders sustainably.”

Quality Plumber Week, now in its third year, is once again celebrating the dedicated and hard-working plumbing and heating engineers of the UK. Taking place from October 3-9, the week will build on the success of previous years to unite the whole industry in shining a spotlight on the key roles played by plumbers in our communities. The UK’s plumbers are a dedicated and highly skilled workforce that delivers safe water and heating to homes and workspaces throughout the country, though most of us take these services for granted. Plumbers do the jobs that most people would rather leave and often come to the rescue with burst pipes and broken boilers, while also providing consumers with up to date advice on heating technologies, energy saving tips and water safety. The week is organised by Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors (APHC) and stresses the importance of using properly qualified, trained and accredited plumbers in an attempt to cut the numbers of rogue traders who operate within the industry. Homeowners are being encouraged to check if their tradesperson has professional qualifications and accreditation to a professional trade body in order to make sure they do not become victims of sub-standard work. By increasing the profile of plumbing as a respected profession, it is hoped that more young people will be encouraged to consider an apprenticeship in the industry. The latest research carried out by APHC has shown that attitudes towards apprenticeships seem to have shifted in the last few years, with 86% of those surveyed agreeing that school leavers should be encouraged to consider an apprenticeship instead of being pushed into the Higher Education route, with just 2% disagreeing. As apprenticeships once again become an accepted option post-16 education, the trade must promote the benefits and positives of becoming a plumber or heating engineer to create a new generation of professional tradespeople.