British Gas’s Chris O’Shea picks up £4.5m pay package

British Gas owner Centrica paid its boss £4.5 million last year as its profits tripled to a record £3.3 billion.

Chris O’Shea’s pay package was five times higher than in 2021, when he opted to forgo his annual bonus saying it felt “wrong” to accept one at a time when households were struggling with soaring bills.

Despite the further rise in bills last year and the scandal over British Gas forcibly installing prepayment meters in customers’ homes, O’Shea accepted the £1.4 million annual bonus that Centrica’s pay committee awarded for “exceptional financial performance” in 2022.

He was also paid a salary of £790,000 and was awarded a long-term share bonus worth £2.3 million.

Carol Arrowsmith, who chairs Centrica’s remuneration committee, praised O’Shea’s “outstanding leadership, drive and determination”, adding: “We cannot expect to attract and retain leaders in the future if we do not meet our commitment to recognise and reward the performance and talent of our people.”

The committee concluded that “that the exceptional financial performance against the stretching targets that were set for 2022 does justify a bonus payment”.

O’Shea has led Centrica since 2020. In an interview with The Times last year he said he was not motivated by money, describing it as a “hygiene factor” and adding that he was “not coin-operated”.

Centrica reported record adjusted operating profits of £3.3 billion for 2022 after benefiting from soaring energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The FTSE 100 group is best known as the owner of British Gas, Britain’s biggest energy supplier with 7.5 million household customers. However, this part of the business accounted for just 2 per cent of its profits last year, which were instead driven by bumper results from its oil and gas production, nuclear generation and energy trading arms.

Centrica has been under intense scrutiny since an undercover investigation by The Times found that contractors working for British Gas were forcibly installing prepayment meters in the homes of vulnerable customers. Centrica’s pay committee made no mention of this in its remuneration report.

However, in his statement in the annual report, O’Shea, who has apologised for the behaviour uncovered by the investigation, said: “Allegations around a third-party contractor were unacceptable. I was deeply concerned to hear how some vulnerable customers appeared to be treated in our name, this is simply not how we should do business. We will get to the bottom of this and where we got it wrong, we’ll make it right.”

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said: “The bonuses of the energy industry are built on the suffering of millions who have seen energy bills reach record levels this winter, even despite Government support.

“While energy firms argue that profits in domestic supply firms are low, it is the profits of the producers and the energy traders which are driving high prices for customers. And Centrica’s huge profits are boosted by both of those areas.

“We’d urge all energy bosses to examine their conscience and donate any bonuses to charities that are working night and day to help to undo the damage that they have caused.”