Shipley MP demands urgent answers over secret payouts to Yorkshire Water CEO

Anna Dixon MP for Shipley has this week written to Yorkshire Water Chair, Vanda Murray, demanding urgent answers, after it has emerged that CEO Nicola Shaw received millions in previously undisclosed payments via an offshore parent company. 

Ms. Shaw has repeatedly pledged in public that she is refusing bonuses based on the poor performance of Yorkshire Water.

The article revealing the payments, first reported by The Guardian, shows that Ms. Shaw received £1.7 million in 2023 and £1.3 million in 2024 through Kelda Holdings, the Guernsey-registered parent company of Yorkshire Water. This is in addition to her £660,000 annual salary.

The letter, also signed by a contingent of fellow Yorkshire MPs, described the payments as “disgraceful” and “a betrayal of public trust,” particularly given Yorkshire Water’s ongoing poor performance, including a tripling of serious pollution incidents from 2023 to 2024, for which customers are footing the bill with a huge 41% increase in their water bills.

Anna Dixon MP said: “At a time when my constituents are facing a 41% increase in water bills, sewage is polluting our rivers, and pipes are bursting, the CEO is accepting payments that completely contradict her public statements. 

“Nicola Shaw promised she would decline bonuses out of respect for public anger, while in private, she receives even more money. 

“This is exactly why public confidence in water companies is at rock bottom. People keep seeing their bills go up while executives get richer. When will Yorkshire Water stop taking their customers for fools?”

In the letter to Vanda Murray, the MPs call for full transparency and pose a series of detailed questions, including:

• Why was the CEO paid £1.3 million in addition to her salary?

• Why is Yorkshire Water’s parent company based offshore?

• Are these payments an indirect substitute for bonuses Ms. Shaw publicly declined?

Yorkshire Water has previously cited shareholder investment and “critical work” as justification for the payments. However, the letter to Ms. Murray argues that this undermines any work that the company must do in rebuilding public trust.

The MPs are calling on Yorkshire Water to:

• Disclose all executive payments made via Kelda Holdings since 2022

• Explain the role of the CEO in the parent company

•Justify why this structure is not a breach of public trust and regulatory intent