Three UK cleaning bosses walk away with bonuses after public fury over sewage | Society

Three water company bosses have given up their bonuses in recognition of public anger over sewage being dumped into Britain’s rivers. Chief executives of Yorkshire Water and Thames Water and owner of South West Water He refused to accept the bonus this year. inform Guardian.

Water companies have been criticized for being profitable and their executives receiving huge pay packages Sewage continues to be discharged in large quantities into the country’s rivers and seas. In October 2022, people in Whitstable, England, protested against Southern Water’s sewage disposal.

“I understand the strength of feeling about the river’s health issues, which is why I have decided not to accept the bonus this year,” Yorkshire Water’s Nicola Shaw told the newspaper. This is his first bonus since joining the company in May. 2022. If the company had met its performance targets, he could have received between £600,000 and £800,000, annual reports show. Last year, the company paid £878,000 in bonuses to directors. “This is the right thing to do, I’m sure, to improve the efficiency of Yorkshire Water.”

Sarah Bentley, who runs Thames Water and earned £496,000 last year, has had her pay waived along with the company’s chief financial officer Alastair Cochrane, who will not receive a bonus for 2022-23. He earned £298,000 last year. Bentley said it “doesn’t seem appropriate to accept performance-related pay this year.”

Susan Davey of South West Water, who received £522,000 last year, will also not receive a bonus. “This is the right thing to do. We listen to our customers and we understand,” said Davey, whose company dumped untreated sewage 37,649 times last year. He runs the Bennon Group, the listed owner of South West Water, and has turned down a pay rise for the past two years. The exact amount of bonus to be paid to the three executives was not disclosed.

An analysis of water companies’ annual reports, published last month, found the average amount of executive bonuses at each company was £600,000. In total, the 22 water chiefs paid themselves £24.8m in 2021-22, including bonuses, benefits and incentives.

Emma Clancy, executive director of the Water Consumer Council, welcomed the results. “Our latest research, Bridging the Gap, shows that The bonus is adding to people’s existing frustrations with the water sector And they want more openness and transparency on this issue. This announcement shows that people’s concerns are being listened to,” he said.

The Financial Times reported on Monday that Britain’s privatized water and sewerage companies will pay out 1.4 billion pounds in dividends in 2022, up from 540 million pounds the previous year. Last week, Macquarie, the Australian owner of Southern Water, a utility that has been criticized for dumping wastewater into the sea, posted record profits after a boom in its commodities trading division.