Anglian Water has responded to the government’s new ban on bonuses for water company executives, saying it fully supports financial reward being tightly linked to company performance.
Anglian Water was named as one of six water companies included in the ban on bonuses, announced by Environment Secretary Steve Reed on Friday 6 June, 2025.
Under the new rules, water companies should prohibit performance related pay if an EPA Category 1 incident was recorded during 2024. The Environment Agency documented one category 1 pollution incident for Anglian Water in 2024, which occurred during the month of September, in Peterborough.
Although Anglian Water has a new CEO and CFO, the water company stated it will not pay a bonus to either of its retiring Executive Directors, or new ones. The current CEO, Mark Thurston, was appointed to the board of both Anglian Water and Anglian Water Group Limited in August 2024. Michael Bradley, the current CFO, is still in his probationary period, having joined in November 2024.
An Anglian Water spokesperson said:
“At Anglian Water, we have a brand new CEO and CFO, and for this year (2024/25) while serious pollutions performance improved (by 36%), Anglian Water Services will not pay a bonus to either of its retiring Executive Directors, or our new CEO Mark Thurston.
“We fully support financial reward being tightly linked to company performance and have significantly reduced all senior management and Director bonuses in numerous consecutive years as a result.
“This is a vital sector, pivotal to the nation’s growth and prosperity, and we know we need to work hard as a sector to regain trust of customers and stakeholders. We are ready to play our part, but we also need – as Sir Jon Cunliffe has identified – a reformed regulatory framework that supports this journey and new chapter of improvement and growth.
“The UK water sector needs to attract tens of thousands of new recruits over the coming years – to overcome the challenges and build the new infrastructure that future generations will rely on. It is essential we remain able to retain and attract the best talent at all levels. Our independent Remuneration Committee is concerned that the unintended consequences of blanket prohibitions risk hampering this trajectory of improvement that will support growth.”
