Yorkshire Water boss paid 'extra' £1.3 million from firm's offshore parent company despite 'dire' environmental record and hikes to bills
Chief executive Nicola Shaw pocketed two payments of £660,000 in the last two years from Yorkshire Water's parent company Kelda Holdings, in addition to her salary with the beleaguered utilities firm.
Yorkshire Water was allowed to raise average annual household bills by 41 per cent last year, and this summer introduced a hosepipe ban for its 5.5 million customers.
It was ordered to pay £40 million in the spring to address its 'serious failures' over wastewater and sewage, and was also separately fined nearly £1 million last month for polluting a watercourse with chlorine, causing the death of hundreds of fish.
Yorkshire Water is one of the six water companies currently banned from paying bonuses under Government action designed to prevent bosses who 'oversee poor environmental and customer outcomes' from receiving extra money.
But figures showed Ms Shaw received just over £1.3 million between 2023 and 2025 from Kelda, in addition to her Yorkshire Water salary of around £689,000 per year - remuneration which was reduced by about one-third after she decided to forgo her bonus before the Government performance-related pay ban came in.
The Kelda money is 'a fixed fee for investor-related work' performed by Ms Shaw for the parent company 'and complies fully with expectations and reporting requirements', Yorkshire Water said.
Including the offshore company payments, she has been awarded more than £3 million in total pay over three years since she joined the firm in 2022, according to analysis first reported by the Guardian.
Ofwat, the water regulator, is now investigating.
Ms Shaw's earnings have infuriated environmental campaign groups.
Amy Fairman, head of campaigns for River Action, said: 'Yorkshire Water has just been fined over £900,000 for polluting a watercourse with millions of litres of chlorinated water, killing hundreds of fish, yet its CEO is quietly handed an extra £1.3 million through an offshore firm.
'This is business as usual in a system that rewards environmental destruction and shields those responsible.
'Until executives are held criminally accountable, not just cushioned by shareholders, nothing will change.
'And unless we see a complete overhaul of the water industry, one that finally ends the failed privatisation experiment, this scandalous cycle will continue.'
The Ilkley Clean River Group has now written to Kelda chairman Vanda Murray, asking her to justify Ms Shaw's pay given Yorkshire Water's dismal record under her watch.
The campaigners wrote: 'To the customer, the additional payments to Ms Shaw look like a way of "working around" the fact that bonuses were causing public outrage and subsequently banned by government.
'There is in effect no change to eye-watering salaries at the top of Yorkshire Water.'
A Yorkshire Water spokesman said Ms Shaw's work for Kelda Group included 'investor engagement, financial oversight, and management of the Kelda Group, which is recognised by a fee of £660,000 paid by shareholders'.
He added: 'This is a conscious governance decision: we do not believe that work done on investor-related activities should be paid for by Yorkshire Water customers' bills.
'This fee, which has remained unchanged year on year, reflects the critical importance of the work during this period that was led by Nicola in securing long-term investment for Yorkshire Water.
'We remain focused on our long-term commitment to delivering better outcomes for customers, communities, and the environment across the region.'
It was reported tonight that Ofwat's chief executive David Black is due to resign, ahead of the watchdog's planned abolition by ministers.
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