Shareholders of British Gas owner Centrica rebel over size of CEO's pay packet

The owner of British Gas has suffered a shareholder rebellion after handing its chief executive a multimillion-pound pay packet while energy bill payers are struggling with record levels of debt.

- Jillian Ambrose Sarah Butler

Almost 40% of Centrica's shareholders voted against the board's pay plans at the energy company's annual investor meeting in Manchester yesterday, after rising criticism of Chris O'Shea's pay during the energy crisis.

The CEO's basic salary rose 29% last year to £1.1m to take his total pay packet, including bonuses and share-related pay, to £4.3m for the year.

That was around half what he was paid the year before, when his pay packet ballooned to around £8m, largely thanks to a £5.9m bonus scheme.

The pay rises have angered consumer groups, fuel poverty campaigners and climate activists who have accused the company of profiting from higher energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine while millions of households have struggled to pay their heating bills because of soaring energy costs.

In total, household energy debt and arrears have climbed to about £3.8bn, an increase of about £2bn since the start of 2022.