Latest news with #bonusban
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Pure greed': MPs demand Southern Water CEO refuses 'massive payout'
MPs have accused the CEO of Southern Water of "pure greed" and urged Lawrence Gosden to refuse a 'massive payout' after it emerged that his salary was set to double to £1.4m. The 19 Labour MPs who represent constituents served by Southern Water said they were "appalled" by the "shameful and blatant" attempt by the company to get around a bonus ban. In a letter, they listed recent failures including "major flooding," "sewage spills" and "eye-watering bill hikes of 46.7%," as reasons not to reward the firm's boss. The MPs wrote: "Customers will be shocked that while they are being asked to pay more, you will be laughing all the way to the bank. "We urge you to do the right thing and decline this disgraceful payment for failure." Mr Gosden was awarded £691,000 under a two-year long-term incentive plan on top of his current salary of £687,000. This is despite Southern Water being banned from paying bonuses after a serious sewage leak in the New Forest in Hampshire last year. It comes as the Environment Secretary Steve Reed announced that new legislation would rule out these types of pay increases in future. Speaking over the weekend, Mr Reed described the pay rise as "outrageous" and called on Mr Gosden to turn it down. He told the BBC: "I don't think Southern Water has performed well enough for that kind of pay increase to be merited." Read more:Labour to eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in 10 years Southern Water has previously defended the decision, saying they have not paid out bonuses and have made record investments in order to turn around the failing business. The company has been approached for comment.
Sky News
a day ago
- Business
- Sky News
'Pure greed': MPs demand Southern Water CEO refuses 'massive payout'
MPs have accused the CEO of Southern Water of "pure greed" and urged Lawrence Gosden to refuse a 'massive payout' after it emerged that his salary was set to double to £1.4m. The 19 Labour MPs who represent constituents served by Southern Water said they were "appalled" by the "shameful and blatant" attempt by the company to get around a bonus ban. In a letter, they listed recent failures including "major flooding," "sewage spills" and "eye-watering bill hikes of 46.7%," as reasons not to reward the firm's boss. The MPs wrote: "Customers will be shocked that while they are being asked to pay more, you will be laughing all the way to the bank. "We urge you to do the right thing and decline this disgraceful payment for failure." Mr Gosden was awarded £691,000 under a two-year long-term incentive plan on top of his current salary of £687,000. This is despite Southern Water being banned from paying bonuses after a serious sewage leak in the New Forest in Hampshire last year. It comes as the Environment Secretary Steve Reed announced that new legislation would rule out these types of pay increases in future. 3:21 Speaking over the weekend, Mr Reed described the pay rise as "outrageous" and called on Mr Gosden to turn it down. He told the BBC: "I don't think Southern Water has performed well enough for that kind of pay increase to be merited." Southern Water has previously defended the decision, saying they have not paid out bonuses and have made record investments in order to turn around the failing business.
Sky News
a day ago
- Business
- Sky News
'Pure greed': MPs demand Southern Water SEO refuses 'massive payout'
MPs have accused the CEO of Southern Water of "pure greed" and urged Lawrence Gosden to refuse a 'massive payout' after it emerged that his salary was set to double to £1.4m. The 19 Labour MPs who represent constituents served by Southern Water said they were "appalled" by the "shameful and blatant" attempt by the company to get around a bonus ban. In a letter, they listed recent failures including "major flooding," "sewage spills" and "eye-watering bill hikes of 46.7%," as reasons not to reward the firm's boss. The MPs wrote: "Customers will be shocked that while they are being asked to pay more, you will be laughing all the way to the bank. "We urge you to do the right thing and decline this disgraceful payment for failure." Mr Gosden was awarded £691,000 under a two-year long-term incentive plan on top of his current salary of £687,000. This is despite Southern Water being banned from paying bonuses after a serious sewage leak in the New Forest in Hampshire last year. It comes as the Environment Secretary Steve Reed announced that new legislation would rule out these types of pay increases in future. 3:21 Speaking over the weekend, Mr Reed described the pay rise as "outrageous" and called on Mr Gosden to turn it down. He told the BBC: "I don't think Southern Water has performed well enough for that kind of pay increase to be merited." Southern Water has previously defended the decision, saying they have not paid out bonuses and have made record investments in order to turn around the failing business.
Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Times
Minister calls doubling of Southern Water chief's bonus ‘outrageous'
The doubling of the boss of Southern Water's pay to £1.4 million has been called 'outrageous' by ministers, as questions arise about whether Labour's bonus ban is being skirted by inflated pay. Lawrence Gosden, Southern's chief executive, was awarded £691,200 under a two-year long-term incentive plan (LTIP), as well as £687,100 in fixed pay for the utility's last financial year, the company's results filed earlier this month show. Steve Reed, the environment secretary, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'It's outrageous in my opinion. They are a private company and they can take their own decisions about pay. But I would really would implore them to think about how this looks to their customers.' He added: 'Trust between the water companies and their customers is at the lowest point probably ever. By paying their senior executives raises of that kind, what message are they sending to their customers?' A significant chunk of Gosden's increased pay package is a £111,400 'benefits' payment, up from £22,900 the year before. Much of that is understood to have paid for Gosden's relocation from the Thames Water region to Southern Water's patch, which includes Hampshire, Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight. Such payments are commonplace in the sector for senior leaders, industry sources said. The bonus column for Gosden's pay shows zero. That is because he was banned from taking it by the Labour government due to Southern Water causing a category one pollution incident, the most serious kind. It would have been worth £396,475 if he had been able to take it. However, most of his doubling in pay this year was due to the LTIP. The payment is not covered by the government's bonus ban, but Labour has previously counted LTIPs as bonuses when taking aim at executive pay. MPs have also raised concerns about 'retention' bonuses paid to Thames Water executives, which are not affected by the ban as it is related to performance rather than retention. Helena Dollimore, the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, called Gosden's pay rise a 'slap in the face' given water outages faced by her constituents. Southern Water argued it is justified because it is linked to Gosden successfully delivering a company-wide 'turnaround plan'. It pointed to an 18 per cent fall in leaks this year and a fall in total pollution incidents. The LTIP is paid by shareholders, not Southern's customers, it noted. Gosden, 56, is an engineer and water industry veteran who has gradually worked his way to the top in a career spanning more than three decades. He received a first-class honours degree in engineering at the University of Brighton before starting as a contractor for Southern and then joining the company itself. He later spent 12 years at Thames Water in a series of roles, including managing director of wastewater and chief operating officer. In 2020, he rejoined Southern before he was appointed as a chief executive to turn around the company in 2022, a point when the company was struggling financially and had just been fined £90 million for a major pollution incident. Southern is challenging a decision by Ofwat, the regulator, to allow bills to rise by 53 per cent. Southern had sought to raise them by 83 per cent. Gary Carter, the national officer at GMB Union, said it was 'abhorrent' for Southern's chief executive to 'trouser more than a million pounds' after just announcing a hosepipe ban and leaks. 'It encapsulates everything that's wrong with our broken, privatised water system,' he said. A Southern Water spokesman said: 'Chief executive and chief financial officer salaries and benefits are decided by the remuneration committee, with a majority membership of independent non-executive directors, and following protocols and rules set out by Ofwat and in accordance with the law.'
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Southern Water boss scoops £1.4m pay day despite bonus ban as firm struggles with huge debt burden
Southern Water boss Lawrence Gosden has scooped a £1.4million pay day despite a bonus ban. In the year to March 31, he pocketed a £500,600 salary and an extra £691,200 payout. He also took home £111,400 worth of benefits, and £75,100 of pension-related benefits. He had earned £764,200 in the previous financial year. Regulator Ofwat banned Southern from handing out performance-linked bonuses after a sewage leak last summer fell into the most serious category. But Gosden's £691,200 extra pay was part of a long-term incentive plan. Details emerged just weeks after the utility firm, which provides water to 2.7m households in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, recently asked investors to cough up £1.2billion to ease its debts.
