ONE of the leading figures in Britain's oil and gas industry has called for a major drive to prevent key university graduates being poached by the growing renewable energy sector. Malcolm Webb, chief executive of trade body Oil and Gas UK, told a business breakfast in aberdeen the multi-billion-pound industry had become Britain's "best-kept industrial secret." and he said there was a pressing need to raise the sector's profile if oil companies were to continue to recruit and retain the best people. Mr Webb said: "The problem at the moment is that the offshore oil and gas industry is not known about. We say it is Britain's best-kept industrial secret. The fact that the industry has an image problem is a growing concern. We need to continue to raise the profile of oil and gas in order to keep attracting skilled people, especially in areas that have to compete with renewables." He said a recent survey had underlined the lack of knowledge about the industry by people in Britain. It showed 71 per cent of Londoners thought the UK got the majority of its oil either wholly or mainly from abroad. Even 35 per cent of people in aberdeen - Europe's oil capital - thought likewise. a spokesman for Oil and Gas UK said: "Many people living outside key industry centres like aberdeen and the north-east of England are completely unaware of how important our oil and gas is to the UK economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, contributing millions every year to the Treasury and supplying the vast majority of the country's energy needs. Therefore, raising the profile of the oil and gas industry and changing old-fashioned perceptions is vital if companies are to recruit, nurture and retain the next generation of skilled engineers and talented business leaders."