Tideway boss paid nearly £1m despite Thames ‘super-sewer’ project delays

theguardian.com:

The executive overseeing construction of London’s “super sewer” under the Thames has been awarded bonuses that doubled his pay to nearly £1m despite delays and cost over-runs on the flagship project.

With executive pay in the water industry already under scrutiny, Tideway has revealed it paid its chief executive, Andy Mitchell, a total package of £928,000 for the year to 31 March 2022, up 7.5% from £863,000 a year earlier.

Mitchell almost doubled his £489,000 base salary through a £215,000 bonus and £206,000 granted under a long-term incentive plan, plus benefits, company filings show, after receiving 95% of the bonus he could have raked in under the company’s bonus scheme. Tideway handed a 2.5% salary increase to staff and executives during the year.

Amid an extended drought and the threat of widespread hosepipe bans, UK water companies have been criticised for doling out large pay packets to executives and dividends to shareholders while seeing widespread leaks in their networks and notching up poor pollution records.

The 25km Thames sewage tunnel, which runs under the river, was originally due to be completed in 2024. However, during the pandemic in 2020, Tideway announced the completion date would be pushed back by nine months to the first half of 2025, with the forecast total cost rising by £233m to £4.13bn.

In its annual report, Tideway said the capital cost of the sewer was now £4.3bn, an increase of 2% since its last update. The firm raised an extra £300m in March by issuing green bonds, which are designed to support environmental projects.

Its construction is also being funded by Londoners, with Thames Water customers paying an extra £20 to £25 on their bills.

Investors including the German financial services behemoth