REVEALED: Water companies’ ‘fat cats’ with ‘excessive’ pay packages
REVEALED: The ‘fat cats’ at nine water companies who pocketed ‘excessive’ £13M pay packages in past 12 months – including £2M-a-year boss at debt-ridden Thames Water now teetering on the brink of collapse
The ‘fat cats’ at nine water companies awarded huge pay packages of up to £3.2million per year have been revealed amid fears that Britain’s biggest water company is on the brink of collapse.
Critics have slammed the pay packages of the UK’s top water bosses as ‘excessive’ as concerns swirl around the future of Thames Water – after it emerged it is in debt to the tune of £14billion.
The firm, which serves 15 million customers, is currently in emergency talks with government and the water regulator Ofwat about a multibillion cash injection after its £2million-a-year chief executive Sarah Bentley announced her shock exit on Wednesday.
And it comes as Thames, as well as the wider industry, comes under fire around leaks and dumping of sewage in the UK’s waterways, as well as payouts to shareholders and their top brass.
Last night it emerged that bosses at nine water companies were paid £13million in just one year, as public outrage over river pollution and ongoing water leaks. The bosses’ packages are made up of a base salary, plus benefits and bonuses.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/11/72702937-12249891-image-m-22_1688120343220.jpg)
Thames Water is currently in emergency talks with government and regulator Ofwat about a multibillion cash injection after its chief executive Sarah Bentley (pictured) announced her shock exit on Wednesday
![Beleaguered United Utilities boss Steven Mogford took home a £3.2million package in 2022](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/11/72703171-12249891-Beleaguered_United_Utilities_boss_Steven_Mogford_took_home_a_3_2-m-23_1688120357991.jpg)
Beleaguered United Utilities boss Steven Mogford took home a £3.2million package in 2022
![Water companies have been coming under fire over sewage overflows into UK rivers and seas](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/09/72705535-12249891-image-a-8_1688114503929.jpg)
Water companies have been coming under fire over sewage overflows into UK rivers and seas
Troubled Thames Water was until Tuesday led by Sarah Bentley, who resigned dramatically as the firm came under increasing criticism and financial pressure.
She had been with the company since September 2020 and previously pledged to clean up the company’s act.
Ms Bentley was reportedly paid £2million in 2022 – more than 10 times the salary of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who earns £164,951 a year.
In May, the University of Kent-educated mother-of-five joined other water firm bosses in promising to give up her 2022-23 bonus amid fierce criticism of the sector.
Ms Bentley, who ran Thames Water for three years, received £1.5m for her work in 2022-23.
She is set to receive a further payout worth around £550,000 upon leaving the company.
Thames Water named Sir Adrian Montague as its new boss yesterday.
Boss of Severn Trent water Liv Garfield this year pocketed £3.2million – down £700,000 on her previous £3.9million package.
The company recorded strong profits in its accounts last month, admitting it should have done more and acted faster on concerns over sewage overflows.
Beleaguered United Utilities boss Steven Mogford also took home a £3.2million package in 2022 – despite the company having £8.2billion of debt.
He is set to retire in March, when he will receive a final £2.28million payout.
Lawrence Gosden, who has been CEO of Southern Water since July last year, has not yet had his salary published.
But the company’s former CEO, Ian McAulay, enjoyed a £1.4million package made up of his salary and bonuses.
![Boss of Seven Trent water Liv Garfield this year pocketed £3.2million - down £700,000 on her previous £3.9million package](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/08/72702939-12249891-image-a-2_1688110646234.jpg)
Boss of Seven Trent water Liv Garfield this year pocketed £3.2million – down £700,000 on her previous £3.9million package
![Lawrence Gosden, who has been CEO of Southern Water since July last year, has not yet had his pay package confirmed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/08/72703927-12249891-image-a-3_1688110723346.jpg)
Lawrence Gosden, who has been CEO of Southern Water since July last year, has not yet had his pay package confirmed
![Former Southern Water CEO Ian McAulay took home a total package worth £1.4million](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/11/72708089-12249891-image-a-10_1688119719439.jpg)
Former Southern Water CEO Ian McAulay took home a total package worth £1.4million
![Yorkshire Water's former CEO Liz Barber also received in the region of £1.4million](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/11/72708093-12249891-image-a-11_1688119749416.jpg)
Yorkshire Water’s former CEO Liz Barber also received in the region of £1.4million
![Yorkshire Water boss Nicola Shaw has already announced she will not be accepting a bonus - but her pay package has not yet been announced](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/08/72702935-12249891-image-a-4_1688110746969.jpg)
Yorkshire Water boss Nicola Shaw has already announced she will not be accepting a bonus – but her pay package has not yet been announced
Mr Gosden also waived his bonus amid public outcry at water leaks and sewage releases across the country.
Yorkshire Water’s former CEO Liz Barber also received in the region of £1.4million.
New boss Nicola Shaw’s package, made up of salary and benefits, has not been announced after she joined the company in May 2022.
But she declined her bonus, saying she understood the ‘strength of feeling’ over sewage releases, which have serious health risks to humans and animals.
The worst offender for pollution in UK water, Anglian Water, paid its boss just shy of £1million – despite the Environment Agency finding it was responsible for a quarter of all serious pollution events in 2021.
Last year it was told it required ‘serious improvement’ by the EA.
In April, the firm was also fined £2.65million after allowing untreated sewage to overflow into the North Sea.
Chief Peter Simpson received a payout totalling £913,000 after declining his £337,000 bonus.
In Wales, boss at Dwr Cymru Peter Perry took home £675,000 as he defended his record on protecting Welsh waters, the Mirror reports.
In April he said his company was still looking to improve its record on pollution, but pointed out that while 40 percent of rivers in Wales are classed as ‘good’ under the Water Framework Directive, the equivalent figure was just 14 percent in England.
Coming in at eighth place in the ‘fat cat’ bosses is Heidi Mottram, boss at Northumbrian Water.
She was paid £648,000, figures show, after first joining the company’s board back in 2010.
And Wessex Water boss Colin Skellett pocketed just shy of half a million, at £498,000.
![Chief of Anglian Water Peter Simpson received a payout totalling £913,000](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/09/72703173-12249891-image-a-7_1688112242792.jpg)
Chief of Anglian Water Peter Simpson received a payout totalling £913,000
![In Wales, boss at Dwr Cymru Peter Perry took home £675,000 as he defended his record on protecting Welsh waters](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/09/72703911-12249891-image-a-5_1688112183755.jpg)
In Wales, boss at Dwr Cymru Peter Perry took home £675,000 as he defended his record on protecting Welsh waters
![Wessex Water boss Colin Skellett pocketed just shy of half a million, at £498,000](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/09/72703929-12249891-image-a-6_1688112193768.jpg)
Wessex Water boss Colin Skellett pocketed just shy of half a million, at £498,000
It was reported by MailOnline last year that Mr Skellet’s company loses 70million litres of water per day due to faulty infrastructure.
Recent analysis found the pay for executives at ten firms in England and Wales jumped by a fifth on average last year – despite the ongoing challenges facing the sector.
Conservative MP and chair of the Environmental Audit Committee Philip Dunne told the BBC there was ‘no question there have been excessive payments to executives’.
He continued: ‘Remember water companies don’t have to worry about their top line, their top line is provided day in, day out without having to do the work that normal companies have to do, which is management to focus on generating revenue.
‘Revenue here arises as, of course, everybody turns on their taps and starts consuming water,’ he said.
Luke Hildyard, Director of the High Pay Centre UK, said pay packages of millions of pounds are ‘wasteful’: ‘Pay awards of hundreds of thousands and even millions of pounds would be obviously wasteful and unnecessary even for successful executives, and there is a high degree of scepticism as to whether the current post holders meet that description.’
And although the bosses of several water companies – including Thames – promised to give up bonuses for the 2022-23 financial year, this has been slammed as ‘a flimsy PR stunt’.
Gary Carter, a national officer at the GMB union, said: ‘The UK water industry is in a complete mess, with creaking infrastructure, a disgruntled workforce and effluent allowed to flow freely into our beautiful waterways. To see those responsible for this carnage pocket a king’s ransom is particularly galling.
‘Bentley’s announcement she won’t take a bonus, while at the same time trousering a huge total pay package shows, it was nothing more than a flimsy PR stunt.’
Water bosses are under increasing scrutiny once again as speculation over a possible takeover at Thames Water increases.
Regulators at Ofwat have been slammed by politicians and campaigners amid growing fears over the ‘financial resilience’ of Thames Water.
Britain’s largest water supplier is scrambling for extra cash because of concerns around its £14billion debt pile, with the Government considering a potential taxpayer bailout should it collapse.
![Water companies are facing criticism over pollution caused by sewage overflows](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/09/72705575-12249891-image-a-9_1688114530107.jpg)
Water companies are facing criticism over pollution caused by sewage overflows
![Critics have slammed the pay packages of the UK's top water bosses as 'excessive' as concerns swirl around the future of Thames Water](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/30/00/72694605-12249187-image-a-1_1688083064064.jpg)
Critics have slammed the pay packages of the UK’s top water bosses as ‘excessive’ as concerns swirl around the future of Thames Water
This has sparked a barrage of criticism against Ofwat, which has been accused of being ‘asleep at the wheel’.
The regulator said yesterday morning that Thames Water, Britain’s biggest supplier with 15million customers, has ‘significant issues to address’ in several areas.
Many of these have come to the fore following the unexpected departure of Sarah Bentley as Thames Water’s chief executive this week.
Darren Jones, Labour chairman of the Commons business committee, has warned that ‘taxpayers will be exposed to the debt and running costs of a very large company’ if Thames Water fails.
He told the BBC that problems in the water industry – which was privatised in 1989 – are similar to the turmoil customers experienced in the energy sector last year when around 30 firms collapsed and the taxpayer was forced to step in.
‘We have to take on the cost of running these failed businesses, which is why it’s so galling for taxpayers when they see that regulators and ministers have failed to spot this problem before it all blew up,’ he said.
Ofwat flagged in December that it was concerned about the financial resilience of several debt-laden water companies, including Thames Water.
However, it said yesterday that the firm had been boosted by ‘an additional £500million from shareholders’, as well as ‘£4.4billion of cash and committed funding’.
Feargal Sharkey, rock star turned campaigner, said Ofwat’s lack of action has contributed to recent chaos. ‘As much as I may be furiously unhappy with the water companies, they were actually doing the job they were given, which was to make as much money as possible for shareholders,’ he said.
‘The question actually is what the hell were Ofwat doing for the last 30 years while all of this was going on? Because by god was the regulator asleep at the wheel? They were outflanked, outmanoeuvred and out-thought every single step of the way.’
Yesterday Yorkshire Water sought to shore up its finances by raising £500million from shareholders. Ofwat said it will ‘continue to keep companies’ financial resilience under scrutiny and work to ensure they take action to ensure the financial backing to deliver for customers.
All nine water companies have been contacted for comment.