NORTHUMBRIAN WATER has risked inflaming a bitter row with employees after doubling the annual dividend for its billionaire owner and handing chief executive Heidi Mottram a rise that pushed her pay package to nearly £1m.
The payouts, detailed in the accounts filed this weekend at Companies House, emerged just days after the GMB and Unite unions voted to approve a “work to rule” campaign to protest at Northumbrian’s decision to end the final salary pension scheme. The campaign, under which employees work only the minimum hours required, will start on Tuesday.
Northumbrian employs 3,200 people. It trades as Essex & Suffolk Water and provides water and sewerage services to 2.7m people.
The company was taken over for £2.4bn by Li Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI) in 2011. The 87-year-old Hong Kong tycoon is one of the richest people in the world, with a fortune estimated by Forbes at $26bn (£16.8bn).
In the 15 months to March 31, Northumbrian made a profit of £169m but paid no corporation tax. This was due to a combination of a huge interest bill on the £4bn in loans it took on to fund the takeover, and government tax breaks on investment deals.
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The company handed Li’s investment group a dividend of £158m during the period, more than double the £69m the company paid out in 2013.
Mottram also enjoyed a big increase in remuneration. According to the accounts, the highest-paid director — understood to be Mottram — took home £1.2m over the 15 months to March 31.
That equates to an annual package of £955,000 — a 16% raise on her £817,000 the year before. The company declined to comment.
This year Ofwat forced Northumbrian to cut the rates it charges households by 1%.