Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said it would block “bonuses by any other any name” after another top water boss enjoys windfall
Watchdogs are to look at whether water firms are sidestepping a bonus ban after a fatcat boss was handed £500,000 as a reward for staying.
Mark Thurston, chief executive of industry giant Anglian Water, pocketed the “retention” payment as part of near £1.86million package for last year. He also banked more than £450,000 this month under a separate scheme.
The bonanza came despite new laws brought in by Labour last year to ban bonuses to water companies if they fail to meet environmental standards.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said action would be taken to “prevent bonuses by any other any name.”
Anglian Water was hit with a near £63million penalty last year after regulator Ofwat found the company had failed to properly manage its treatment works and network that meant it was unable to cope with sewage flows. It was responsible for 12 pollution incidents that were deemed serious last year, up from seven in 2024 and when its target was zero. The company was also fined over leaks and supply disruptions.
Anglian Water, which supplies seven million customers, is set to hike customer bills by 44% between 2024/25 and 2029/30.
The company insisted Mr Thurston, former chief executive of the troubled HS2 high speed rail line who joined in August 2024, had not received a bonus. It said the retention fee – which commits Mr Thurston to stay until January next year – was needed to keep the “high calibre of newly recruited leadership”.
And it stressed that this, and payment under its “medium term alignment plan”, related to his work for the wider Anglian Water Group, rather than water supply business.
“The chief executive and chief finance officer roles operate across the whole of the Anglian Water Group, which includes businesses which are separate to the water company and which carry out a range of commercial activities and generate annual revenues of around £800million,” the firm said.
“Payments from the group are not in any way funded by customers but to ensure transparency, we report payments from wider group alongside those from the regulated water company to make it clear how much executives earned, what any payment was for, and who is paying.”
Ofwat is expected to examine both payments as part of wider look at boardroom pay across water companies. Last November it announced it had used to the new powers to block more than £4million of potential bonuses tom water bosses in the last financial year.
Ms Reynolds said “These payments fly in the face of basic fairness and the British public are right to be furious. We’ve already banned £4million in bonuses for polluting water boss and will be taking action to prevent bonuses by any other any name.”
It follows anger over the boss of crisis hit Thames Water, Chris Weston, after he said he deserved his pay rise to almost £1million despite the debt-drenched firm facing a possible taxpayer rescue. The company’s annual report revealed Mr Weston’s annual salary surged from £869,000 to £995,000 from April 1. He did not receive a bonus.
Mike Keil, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water, said: “Customers would be incensed if any water company was found to be circumventing bonus payment rules and we would expect the regulator to step in if evidence was found of this.”
