Yorkshire Water company boss repeatedly avoids questions on bonus amid bill rise

Nicola Shaw is asked three times about what 'sacrifices' she is prepared to make on the day Yorkshire Water said bills would rise 41%

The boss of Yorkshire Water has repeatedly refused to say whether she would give up her bonus after the company announced that customers' bills will increase by 41% in the next five years.

Householders' average annual bills will go up £177 from £430 this year to £607 by 2029 to fund what the company says are essential improvements to the water network.

It comes as the regulator Ofwat announced that customers across the country are facing price rises to pay for a £104 billion upgrade of the system nationally.

But there has been anger from consumer groups at the charges in the wake of large bonus payouts and record levels of pollution.

Yorkshire Water's chief executive Nicola Shaw received a £371,000 bonus in 2023-24 , along with a salary and pension package worth £657,000.

When asked directly by ITV Calendar News whether she would give up her bonus in light of the bill rise, Ms Shaw avoided the question.

She said: "The business, as we've said for some time, is a turnaround. There's a lot more to do and we're working really hard to keep improving.

"It's something that matters to everyone who works at Yorkshire Water... This investment is something that we think is really necessary to help that improvement over the five years."

Pressed a second time on whether she would make the same sacrifices as customers, she replied: "We think it's really important that we continue to invest and we get that right, and that's what we're doing, and I have always said that we need the business to improve and the metrics that we put in place are really stretching to make sure that it does."

Asked a third time if she and others who receive dividends would be prepared to make sacrifices, she said: "Our shareholders have already committed to putting in another £500million in at least before the end of March 2027 so this is a joint effort by them."

The average bill nationally will go up by £31 a year over the next five years, Ofwat said - significantly more than the expected increase of around £20 a year per household, outlined in the regulator’s draft proposals in July.

Ms Shaw said Yorkshire Water's price rise amounted to 20p per person per day.

She said it would allow £8.3bn of investment in improvements to water quality and work to combat climate change. Eighty per cent of customers agreed with the plans, she said.

Work is already underway to improve the quality of bathing water in Scarborough, Ilkley, Knaresborough and Wetherby, Ms Shaw said, but she said she understood the "frustration about the amount of money we need to spend on the networks".

"But it is important if we are going to get the improvements - it's a complete replumbing essentially," she added.

"The return that customers will see is better service, more people serving their needs and better environmental quality as well."

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