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05
Aug
Yorkshire Water CEO paid extra £1.3m by company's parent firm
Yorkshire Water has defended payments of £1.3 million made to its chief executive Nicola Shaw by its parent company.
Ms Shaw received £660,000 from Jersey-based Kelda Holdings in the 2023/24 and the 2024/25 financial years, which was previously undisclosed.
The Guardian reported that the size of the fees were not disclosed in the annual report of the regulated subsidiary, Yorkshire Water Services.
Yorkshire Water said the payment was for work including "investor engagement, financial oversight, and management of the Kelda Group". It added that the fee was paid by shareholders, not bill-payers.
The company, which imposed a hosepipe ban for millions of customers in July, said that Ms Shaw's pay decreased by 33% in 2024/25 to £689,000 — which was after she decided not to take a bonus for the year.
The move comes as the Stray Ferret reported in February that Ms Shaw defended a previous £371,000 bonus to MPs on the House of Commons’ environment, food and rural affairs select committee.
The government has since banned “unfair” bonuses for water company bosses.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water has been criticised for its failure to manage wastewater treatment works adequately and for discharging untreated sewage into rivers.
In March, the company was ordered to pay out £40 million as an enforcement package following the conclusion of Ofwat’s investigation into its wastewater treatment works and networks.
Yorkshire Water statement
In a statement issued following the revelations of the £1.3 million payment, Yorkshire Water said Ms Shaw did some work for the benefit of its parent company.
A spokesperson said:
As part of her CEO role at Yorkshire Water, Nicola Shaw also does some work for the benefit of Yorkshire Water’s parent company, Kelda Group, including investor engagement, financial oversight, and management of the Kelda Group, which is recognised by a fee of £660k paid by shareholders. This is a conscious governance decision: we do not believe that work done on investor-related activities should be paid for by Yorkshire Water customers’ bills. In addition, there are no PRP arrangements at the Kelda Group level.
This fee, which has remained unchanged year on year, reflects the critical importance of the work during this period that was led by Nicola in securing long-term investment for Yorkshire Water. It was in part due to her leadership and engagement that shareholders directly invested £500m into Yorkshire Water to support the delivery of critical investment over the next five years, with a further commitment of £600m before the end of March 2027 – the largest single capital commitment to Yorkshire Water to date.
The company added:
We are determined to make improvements to our performance so we can deliver our part in creating a thriving Yorkshire, doing right for our customers and the environment. Looking ahead, Yorkshire Water is investing £8.3 billion over the next five years - an average of £3.2 million every day – to improve service levels, cut pollution, and make Yorkshire’s water infrastructure fit for the future. We remain focused on our long-term commitment to delivering better outcomes for customers, communities, and the environment across the region.
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