Thames Water chair tells MPs of 'hair raising' finances

The chair of Thames Water has admitted its finances were "hair raising", as he said bosses were in line for "substantial" bonuses linked to an emergency £3bn loan.

- Anna Isaac Graeme Wearden Sandra Laville

The UK's biggest water company came within just five weeks of running out of money, Adrian Montague told MPs yesterday.

"Thames, in the last year, has come very close to running out of money entirely," he said. He added there were times when it only had weeks' worth of cash left. "Running a £20bn corporation on five weeks' liquidity, honestly, it's hair raising."

Montague also said some executives at the struggling water company were in line for payouts amounting to "50% of salary, very substantial bonuses" as part of the high-interest emergency debt package approved by the high court in February.

Bosses at the heavily indebted supplier, which has 16 million customers and 8,000 employees, faced a grilling from MPs amid public outrage over the costs and operation of water companies, and Thames in particular.

Thames's chief executive, Chris Weston, was also asked to justify his bonus of £195,000 for three months' work after he joined in January 2024.