Boss of British Gas owner sparks outrage with £4.5m pay packet
The boss of British Gas’s parent company has angered consumer groups by accepting a windfall £4.5m pay packet, including bonus payouts totalling £3.7m, despite an investigation into the treatment of vulnerable customers.
Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of Centrica, was told to examine his conscience after accepting an annual bonus of £1.4m and a long-term share bonus of £2.3m on top of his £790,000 annual salary, as millions of households struggled to pay their energy bills.
The personal bonus windfall was awarded after Centrica’s profits increased threefold last year to an all-time high of £3.3bn amid rocketing energy market prices.
The company reported the record profits shortly after it emerged that debt agents working for British Gas broke into the homes of vulnerable customers to fit prepayment meters when they were unable to pay their bills.
The revelations, which were uncovered by the Times newspaper, triggered an outcry from consumer groups, which have been campaigning for vulnerable households to receive more support to help weather the cost of living crisis.
They also provoked concern from No 10 and prompted the energy regulator Ofgem to open an investigation into British Gas’s treatment of vulnerable households.
Simon Francis, the co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “The bonuses of the few in the energy industry are built on the suffering of the many who have seen energy bills reach record levels this winter, even despite government support.
“We’d urge all energy bosses to examine their conscience and donate their bonuses to charities helping to undo the damage they have caused.”
Alice Harrison, a campaigner at Global Witness, described the bonus as “a slap in the face to all those who’ve been
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