‘No point’ in trying to justify my multimillion-pound salary, says British Gas boss
The boss of British Gas’s parent company has said there is “no point” trying to justify his £4.5m pay package.
Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of Centrica, said he was unable to defend his salary while so many households are struggling to pay their gas and electric bills.
Profits at British Gas surged 10-fold in the first six months of 2023 after Ofgem allowed gas and electricity suppliers to make more money from household bills.
The company, which supplies 10 million British homes and businesses, reported record half-year profits of £970m.
However, last year it was banned from forcing prepayment meters onto over-75s or families with small children, under new rules announced by Ofgem.
It followed an investigation that revealed how debt collectors had forced their way into homes to install the units.
When asked about his pay on Friday, Mr O’Shea told BBC Breakfast: “It’s a huge amount of money, I am incredibly fortunate. I don’t set my own pay, that’s set by our remuneration committee.”
Mr O’Shea received £1.4m in bonus payments in 2023, although this came after he turned down bonuses in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
He said: “That’s the first bonus I’ve taken in my time at Centrica, for a number of years, I’ve given up bonuses because of hardships that customers were facing.”
Centrica, which has seen its share price increase 43pc over the last year, has set aside £100m for a hardship fund, which has helped around 21,000 customers since 2021.
Mr O’Shea added: “I thought it was right that we put a lot of our money, a lot of our profits, into supporting customers. But you can’t justify a salary of that size.
“You can’t because it’s a huge amount of money to anybody looking at this.”
Asked why he accepts such high pay, the chief executive pointed to the BBC presenters sitting around him.
He said: “I suppose for the same reason, I mean if you look, the average salary in the UK is around £30,000.
“All of us sitting here on this sofa will make substantially more than £30,000. It’s not for me to set my own pay. It’s not for you to set your own pay.
“But you’ve got to recognise that when you’ve got people who are struggling, and I look at my mum who’s on the basic state pension, it’s just impossible to justify, so there’s no point in trying to do that.”
