WATER COMPANY CHIEFS' PAY RISES DESPITE BONUS BAN

Chief executives and chief financial officers at England and Wales's 14 largest water companies received total pay rises of 1.5% to £25.3m in the past year, according to analysis by the Guardian. Mark Thurston, chief executive of Anglian Water, received £1.9m including a £500,000 "retention payment" despite a government bonus ban introduced in 2025. Louise Beardmore, chief executive of United Utilities, received the largest package at £2.5m, an increase of £1.1m from the previous year. The pay rises occurred through salary increases and use of pay loopholes, the analysis found.

The increases come amid widespread public concern over water pollution, rising bills and drought conditions affecting 23 million people across Britain. Thames Water, the country's largest water company, faces financial difficulties described as approaching insolvency. Water companies have faced scrutiny in recent years following persistent sewage dumping into rivers and seas, and have raised bills to fund investment in leaking pipes, ageing treatment works and new reservoirs.

Andy Burnham, who has stated he wants to exert "more public control" over the water industry, has suggested moving Thames Water into temporary government ownership. Adrian Ramsay, a Green party MP, stated that the pay levels demonstrate problems with treating water as a private commodity and called for the industry to return to public ownership so revenues would be reinvested in the system rather than paid to shareholders and executives.