英国最大水务公司泰晤士水务（Thames Water）向首席财务官史蒂夫·巴克（Steve Buck）支付了100万英镑的签约费，此举在公司陷入严重财务困境的背景下引发广泛质疑。[1]该笔款项于上月支付，资金来自公司去年与债权人达成的30亿英镑应急债务方案。[1]
巴克的总薪酬为59.1万英镑，其中包括49.1万英镑的基本工资，后被提至63万英镑。[1]泰晤士水务因环保表现不达标已被禁止发放业绩奖金，但上月公司却披露已支付了410万英镑的高管奖金。[1]公司首席执行官克里斯·韦斯顿的总薪酬为120万英镑。[1]此外，泰晤士水务已与14名其他高管达成离职补偿协议。[1]
该公司为伦敦及泰晤士河谷地区1600万客户提供水务服务，[1]而这一系列高管薪酬安排已引发关于政府是否应该接管该公司的更多呼声。[1]
Britain's largest water company, Thames Water, has paid its Chief Financial Officer Steve Buck a £1 million signing fee despite facing severe financial difficulties and being barred from distributing performance bonuses.[1] The payment, made last month, was drawn from a £3 billion emergency debt arrangement secured with creditors.[1]
Buck's total compensation stands at £591,000, comprising a base salary of £491,000, which was subsequently increased to £630,000.[1] The signing fee comes as Thames Water remains prohibited from awarding performance bonuses due to environmental failures.[1] The company serves approximately 16 million customers across London and the Thames Valley region.[1] Additionally, Thames Water has negotiated severance packages with 14 other senior executives, and disclosed last month that it paid £4.1 million in executive bonuses.[1] Chief Executive Officer Chris Weston receives total compensation of £1.2 million.[1] The payment has intensified calls for government intervention to assume control of the embattled utility.