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Thames Water paid finance chief a £1m signing-on fee in July

The payment to Steve Buck came after the company sought legal advice and was funded from emergency lender support amid about £20bn in debt and the risk of special administration.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Industry

Thames Water paid its finance chief, Steve Buck, a £1m signing-on fee in July, according to a letter from the company chairman to MPs, as the troubled utility weighs temporary nationalisation and faces large recruitment and retention challenges.

The company had brought Buck on in April 2025, but the seven-figure payment was only made last month after Thames Water took legal advice on its contractual obligations, the BBC Business reported.

Chairman Sir Adrian Montague said customers could view large payments to senior leaders as unjust, but he argued the incentive was necessary to prevent key staff leaving and to help stabilize a team hired recently to address the company’s problems.

Thames Water is understood to owe roughly £20bn, and if it cannot reach a deal with creditors it could be placed into a special administration regime, a temporary nationalisation structure where government-appointed officials run the business and manage funding and debt alongside restructuring.

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