Thames Water hands finance boss £1m bonus

Thames Water hands finance boss £1m bonus

James Titcomb

Mon, August 10, 2026 at 1:23 PM GMT+3 3 min read

Thames Water risks a renewed backlash from ministers after paying a top executive a £1m bonus.

Steve Buck, the chief financial officer of Thames Water, received the sum last month as part of a signing-on deal, despite the business facing collapse because of its overwhelming debt pile.

The company is banned from paying performance-related bonuses to its top executives under rules imposed by the water regulator.

However, it has been unable to defer existing payments previously promised to senior executives, according to Sky News, which first reported the payments.

Mr Buck, the former finance chief of water companies Pennon and Anglian Water, joined Thames in April last year as the company sought to stave off nationalisation and push through a rescue plan proposed by creditors.

He was promised the £1m bonus as a "retention fee" when joining the company.

Thames's annual report, released last month, said the payment had been paused, but it was paid just weeks later, according to a letter from Sir Adrian Montague, the chairman, to MPs on the environment, food and rural affairs committee.

Sir Adrian wrote: "I understand that for customers who believe, rightly, that they have not received the service they deserve, it feels unjust that senior leaders of the company receive significant compensation. However, we need those senior leaders to remain in post to continue the good progress made on the turnaround.

"The majority of the team were brought in recently to fix the problems the company faces and are not responsible for causing those problems."

Thames has also delayed millions of pounds in bonuses to other executives amid a public outcry over the utility's record on sewage and as it faces the prospect of nationalisation.

Special measures imposed by Ofwat, the industry regulator, ban Thames from paying performance-related bonuses to its chief executive and chief financial officer.

Mr Buck's retention payment can be paid because it is not dependent on performance. It is double last year's £500,000 salary, which Thames has since increased to £630,000.

Chris Weston, the utility's chief executive, is prevented from receiving a bonus. However, he received a 14pc salary increase last year to almost £1m.

Thames is under pressure over executive bonuses as its creditors push through a last-ditch attempt to avoid nationalisation.

It is preparing a new offer to regulators, which is expected to result in much of its debt being written off and more cash injected into the company.

Andy Burnham has said Thames should be nationalised.

Thames's debt pile stands at £20bn, and the company says it has enough cash only to see it through to the end of the year.

More than 10 million Thames customers are under a hosepipe ban.

Emma Reynolds, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, criticised bonuses for Thames bosses as "outrageous" when she was environment secretary under Sir Keir Starmer.

She had promised Labour "will be taking action to prevent bonuses by any other name".

Thames Water declined to comment.

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