By Laura McGuire
Underfire water group Pennon revealed its chief executive Susan Davy saw her pay package jump 58 per cent after being rewarded with a £298,000 share bonus.
The hefty pay package came despite pollution incidents nearly doubling at South West Water last year.
Its annual report filed on Monday showed the chief’s total pay jumped to £860k in the 2023-24 year, up from £543k the previous year.
Revenue at the firm increased by eight per cent from £218m in 2022/23 to £233.8m 2023/24.
Pennon said this was a “direct result of continued customer growth and low customer attrition despite a reduction in customer consumption in our incumbent areas”.
Separately, Pennon named a new chair designate to succeed Gill Rider, who will retire from the board next month, the firm said this morning.
The switch-up comes at a challenging time for the UK’s water industry as it faces scrutiny for pumping sewage into rivers and raising customers’ bills to pay for infrastructure work.
David Sproul will take over from Rider, who was appointed to the board in September 2012 and became chair in July 2020. She was previously president of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and chair of the Council of the University of Southampton.
She said: “I am honoured to have worked alongside such a talented Board over many years at Pennon.
“I am delighted that David will be joining the group and will succeed me as chair. I wish him, Pennon and especially all our dedicated colleagues every success for the future.”
Her successor, Sproul, is a chartered accountant who spent most of his career in professional services at Deloitte, including global deputy chief from 2019 to 2021.
In late 2021, he became chair of Starling Bank Ltd, the UK’s leading digital bank.
Commenting, he said: “It is a privilege to have been invited to take on the role as chair at a pivotal point in Pennon’s strategy, and ongoing commitment to the UK Water industry.
“There has never been a more important time to make a positive contribution to the sector and society. What Pennon does for customer, communities and the environment really matters.”
