British Commercial Gas Association / British Gas Council One Grosvenor Place London SW1

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The Executive Chairman was Sir Francis Goodenough, who set up the association in 1911, and held the post until his retirement in 1936. (Goodenough originally was in charge of the sales department of the Gas Light & Coke Company, the largest gas undertaking in the world). It was set up to represent the commerical interests of the whole gas industry.

Sir Francis Goodenough was the manager of the sales department (of the Gas Light & Coke Company.) "He took a census of the company's district to gauge its possibilities, trained a special body of salesmen, engaged women experts in domestic science to demonstrate the use of gas appliances, and advertised the company's service in the newspapers. In consquence, many other gas undertakings and gas appliance makers benefited from the company's advertising. Some actually offered to bear part of the cost. This suggested the idea that a national scheme of advertising might be floated, with contributions from gas undertakings and makers of appliances all over the country. In the discussion which followed, it became clear that there was need for a strong central body to co-ordinate other activities besides direct advertising. The result was the formation of the British Commercial Gas Association" - Public Lighting #3, 1936.

Had a stand at the APLE's 1936 Conference in Cheltenham which was arranged as an information bureau and included a display of photographs. - Public Lighting #3, 1936

Published Light On The Roads in 1937. This was issued to all gas undertakings along with the Final Report on Street Lighting by the MOT. - 1938 Advert and Public Lighting #12, 1939

Some authorities have already lit trunk roads by gas thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Transport. BCGA's latest publication is Light On The Roads which deals with the new standards of lighting on trunk and other roads, following the Report Of The Departmental Committee. Light On The Roads deals with:

• Kind of lighting.
• Uniformity.
• Brightness.
• Modernisation.
• Specially difficult conditions.

The Gas Council's stand at the 1953 APLE exhibition in Liverpool.

Mr. A. E. Sylvester, F.C.A., Governor of the Gas Light and Coke Company has been elected chairmain of the British Gas Council. The British Gas Council, a new governing body set up by the Gas Industry in January 1945, represents municipal and company-owned undertakings resonsible for over 98% of the gas produced in the British Isles. This Council unites the functions of the National Gas Council and the British Commercial Gas Association. - Public Lighting #38, 1945

Whitehall, Parliament Square, Kingsway and Regent Street are examples of modern street lighting by gas which can compare with any in the world. Research continues unceasingly with the object of improving still further the service the industry offers. - APLE Conference Programme 1946

The gas industry is responsible for the lighting of the majority of the streets in the country - a total of some 750,000 gas lamps. Prior to the war a number of existing installations were modernised to bring them into line with the recommendations of the Ministry of Transport Committee on street lighting; many other schemes were unavoidably postponed. - APLE Conference Programme 1947

Their Stand at the APLE Conference includes a working model of street lighting by gas for A and B class roads. By means of this model the visitor will be shown the various effects obtained by the different positioning of lamp standards; while a second model shows the effect of glare. Copies of the British Gas Council's booklet Better Light, Safer Roads will be available which deals with methods of bringing installations into line with the MOT Report. - APLE Conference Programme 1948

The Gas Industry is responsible for approximately half the public lighting in the country. The Gas Council is at the service of lighting engineers in search of up-to-date technical information on all aspects of the use of gas for public lighting. A booklet, Better Light, Safer Roads, dealing with methods of implementing the Recommendations of the Ministry of Transport Committee on Street Lighting is available to engineers. - APLE Conference Programme 1949

References:
APLE Conference Programme Folkestone 1937
APLE Conference Programme Bournemouth 1938
APLE Conference Programme Glasgow 1939
APLE Conference Programme Glasgow 1945
APLE Conference Programme London 1946
APLE Conference Programme Southport 1947
APLE Conference Programme Eastbourne 1948
APLE Conference Programme Llandudno 1949