Union’s anger over energy chief’s £1.9m pay packet

From the archive, first published Tuesday 1st Apr 2008.

UNIONS have attack-ed the boss of hundreds of Hampshire workers of energy giant British Gas, after it emerged he earned almost £1.9 million last year.

Sam Laidlaw, the head of British Gas parent company Centrica, earns more than £5,100 a day - a £1.87m a year package.

The news comes just weeks after the firm, which employs 800 people in a Southampton call centre, hit around 13 million customers with double-digit energy bill hikes and unveiled a five-fold increase in profits to £571m.

The figures sparked outrage from consumer groups.

Energywatch said: "A large chunk of Mr Laidlaw's profits is being paid for by the most vulnerable homeowners."

A spokesman for Unison, which represents British Gas workers, said: "On his new salary Sam Laidlaw will have no problem paying his fuel bills this winter. It is however a different story for the low-paid and the elderly who are among the one in six households suffering from fuel poverty and struggling to pay their bills. No wonder British Gas have made record profits when customers are paying through the nose."

Mr Laidlaw oversaw a 40 per cent increase in operating profits across the overall group to £1.95 billion last year.

His salary of £873,000 - £23,000 higher than the previous year - was boosted by a £753,000 bonus and other benefits totalling £244,000, Centrica's annual report said.

The bonus represented 85 per cent of his salary and from this year his potential maximum will be 180 per cent. Mr Laidlaw's bonus incentives included transforming the company, developing growth business, securing more gas and power and cutting costs across the group. The group trimmed its British Gas residential workforce by 2,000 last year - saving £139m - and said up to another 1,000 roles will go in 2008 as it looks to save a further £60m. The jobs reduction will largely hit its call centre operations, although Centrica hopes to achieve all of the decrease by staff turnover and not redundancies.