BOSSES at Thames Water yesterday tried to defend their million-pound bonuses — despite the firm almost running out of cash and its leaky pipes being in such state customers face another summer of hosepipe bans.
In a tense Westminster grilling, chairman Sir Adrian Montague revealed the company’s “cash box was very nearly empty” before it secured a £3billion lifeline from bondholders.
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It is still working on a plan for a cash injection from private equity firm KKR to stave off nationalisation.
Sir Adrian said Thames’ crunch had been hair-raising as at one point the £22billion supplier had five weeks of cash left.
Chief exec Chris Weston added that it might have to “restrict usage” this summer.
The troubled company is losing 56million tons of water every day.
But despite revealing it will need £1.2billion to find and fix leaks, bosses defended their big bonuses.
Mr Weston, who was parachuted in to turnaround Thames Water in December 2023, has already been criticised for receiving a £195,000 bonus just three months after joining.
He is now in line for a 156 per cent performance bonus, worth £1.3million.
It has emerged he will receive three more payouts linked to its loan agreed with creditors.
By comparison, frontline staff will get three per cent bonuses.
Mr Weston said his hefty pay was “not the reason, but it was a reason for me joining Thames”.
Sir Adrian told MPs that if Thames Water was “unable to pay bonuses, headhunters will come knocking and we’ll lose our talent”.
He described the water company’s boardroom team as its “most precious resource”.
Mr Weston said its troubles should be blamed on “all actors”, including a lack of consistency in the leadership of the business and Ofwat.
Sir Adrian also made an appeal for Thames Water to be let off fines from the regulator for missing performance targets to get the company on a more stable financial footing.
Separately, Mr Weston admitted that a £250million East London desalination plant — designed to turn sea water into drinking water — would not be functioning this year.
He also questioned why it was built in the first place.
PADDINGTON BEER
THE spring sunshine — and a promotional tie-in with Paddington Bear — has had people flocking to beer gardens and boosting the spirits at Marston’s.
The pub chain said that sales had jumped by 10.5 per cent in the past five weeks, helped by warm weather, the Easter break and families treating each other on Mother’s Day.
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A tie-in with Paddington, which saw the pub chain served marmalade sandwiches and marmalade chicken wings on kids menus, also helped lure in customers at its family-focused establishments.
Meanwhile, its darts tournament with world No 1 Luke Humphries appealed to a more grown-up crowd.
The firm’s chief executive Justin Platt said the chain was now bringing in a Trivial Pursuit Win a Wedge quiz to help encourage punters through the doors.
He said: “We’re focused on local pubs, which are incredibly resilient. But we’re giving people another reason to visit.
“The nature of what the pub is used for is also changing — we have people working with laptops and charity meetings all happening at their locals.”
The business toasted a return to the black with profits of £19million for the past six months.
RUSH TO GET ON BEACH
PACKAGE holiday giant On The Beach is gearing up for a record summer of bookings.
The company said it expects sales to hit a new high as it reported a pre-tax profit of £3.3million for the first half of 2025 — up 18 per cent on the previous year.
It claims package holidays have continued to “buck wider UK consumer trends” and its summer bookings are currently 14 per cent up on last year.
Amsterdam, Rome and Krakow are now popular destinations, following the Manchester-based firm’s expansion into city breaks.
It said its customers were prioritising four and five-star all-inclusive luxury holidays.
WICKES’ GARDENING LIFT
GARDENERS making the most of the sunshine have helped uplift sales for DIY chain Wickes.
Shares jumped almost 8 per cent as the retailer yesterday said it had boosted its market share.
Retail sales rose 9.6 per cent to £396.7million in 17 weeks to April 26, offsetting a fall in kitchen and bathroom design and installations.
Wickes saw its best ever week for garden compost sales over the early May Bank Holiday and sales to trades also picked up, rising 13 per cent.
Trade customers are more valuable to Wickes as they typically spend ten times that of an average DIY shopper.
The home improvement firm said it was “well positioned to benefit from the warmer weather”.
BEAUTY’S BEASTLY FIGURES
REVOLUTION BEAUTY revealed it is facing a cash crunch in the latest blip for the troubled cosmetics firm.
A string of challenges since listing four years ago include the ousting of its founders after a breach of contract and an accounting scandal.
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Shares fell 40 per cent yesterday — leaving it valued at £24million, compared to its £500million debut in 2021.
It has scrapped 6,000 unprofitable products and launched more that appeal to its Gen Z customers.
It said yesterday lower sales meant “cash management has been tight” and it needs more capital. It was in “active and constructive dialogue” with banks about extending its £32million loan facility
It makes a quarter of its sales in the US and almost two-thirds in China.
The firm said that it “very much welcomes” the US-China deal to pause tariffs, and will restart shipments into the US from China.
BIO FUEL ‘AT RISK’
ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS has warned the US-UK trade deal is a threat to Britain’s bioethanol industry.
The deal allows US imports of the petrol substitute into the UK, which ABF says will make domestic production unviable.
It fears it will have to abandon purchases of wheat from British farms, forcing it to mothball its production site.
But it says the sector, which employs 7,000 people, is a “capability worth keeping”.
