Southern Water boss doubles pay despite leak and bonus ban

Southern Water has nearly doubled its chief executive's annual pay package to £1.4m despite financial difficulties and a government ban on the company awarding bonuses.

- Jasper Jolly Helena Horton

Lawrence Gosden was awarded £691,000 under a "two-year long-term incentive plan" (LTIP), on top of fixed pay of £687,000 in its last financial year, according to the company's annual report published this week. In the previous financial year he was awarded total pay of £764,000 including a bonus of £184,000.

Water companies have been under intense scrutiny amid outrage over sewage leaks into rivers and seas. The government has sought to address some of that anger through a ban on bonuses for top executives at water companies that break the law.

Southern Water was last month banned from paying bonuses with immediate effect after a sewage leak in August 2024 in the New Forest in Hampshire that fell into the most serious category.

Southern said the extra pay was linked to a turnaround plan and was not a bonus. It had complied with the law and rules set by Ofwat, the water regulator.