{"id":1576155,"date":"2024-03-27T09:30:22","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T09:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/?p=1676535"},"modified":"2024-03-27T09:30:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T09:30:22","slug":"british-gas-boss-gets-an-eighty-percent-payrise-while-you-choose-between-heating-eating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/03\/27\/british-gas-boss-gets-an-eighty-percent-payrise-while-you-choose-between-heating-eating\/","title":{"rendered":"British Gas boss gets an EIGHTY PERCENT payrise while YOU choose between heating & eating"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The boss of British Gas’s parent company Centrica, Chris O’Shea, was given over an 80% payrise in 2023 – despite customers struggling to pay their bills, controversy over it sending bailiffs to force-fit prepayment meters – and the CEO himself saying just weeks ago he was paid too much.<\/p>\n

British Gas: money for nothing<\/h2>\n

As investing.com<\/em> reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Centrica CEO Chris O’Shea’s total pay package in 2023 was \u00a38.2 million, a jump of more than 80% from 2022, the British Gas owner’s annual report showed on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

O’Shea’s total remuneration in 2023 included bonuses and awards of about \u00a37.3 million.<\/p>\n

Centrica in February had hiked dividends by about 33% after annual profits surged last year, partly driven by one-off benefits as the government provided help for consumers struggling with high-energy costs and compensated energy suppliers for unpaid debts they could not recover.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

O’Shea’s pay can hardly be down to an ethical performance by British Gas. For example, as the Canary<\/em> reported in February 2023, a month earlier an undercover investigation by the Times<\/em> newspaper found that contractors working for British Gas sent debt collectors<\/a> to \u201cbreak into\u201d homes and \u201cforce-fit\u201d meters.<\/p>\n

Some of the customers the report identified had \u201cextreme vulnerabilities\u201d. Journalist Paul Morgan-Bentley went undercover with British Gas and exposed its practice. He noted that the company was breaking into the homes of disabled people.<\/p>\n

Then, there’s fuel poverty. National Energy Action (NEA) reported that some four million households across the UK were in fuel poverty<\/a> by October 2021. The NEA estimates there will be 6.5 million households in fuel poverty in the UK in April when the new price cap comes in.<\/p>\n

Amid this, British Gas’s profits surged<\/a> – from \u00a372m in 2022 to a staggering \u00a3751m in 2023.<\/p>\n

O’Shea: ‘nothing to do with me’<\/h2>\n

Yet without irony, O’Shea himself told BBC Breakfast<\/em> back in January<\/a> that:<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t justify a salary of that size… It\u2019s a huge amount of money; I am incredibly fortunate. I don\u2019t set my own pay; that\u2019s set by our remuneration committee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His statement leaves you wondering what he has to say about his 80-something-percent increase now. People on X had a few answers to that:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Two months ago British Gas CEO Chris O'Shea was on TV saying that his \u00a34.5m salary couldn't be justified, so he wouldn't even try.<\/p>\n

Now his pay had nearly doubled to \u00a38.2m.<\/p>\n

He's laughing at you. pic.twitter.com\/tYEMSvlPJk<\/a><\/p>\n

— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) March 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n