Wessex Water chief executive Ruth Jefferson received a 14% base salary increase in October, rising from £590,000 to £670,000, and her total pay for the year reached £791,000 once pension and other benefits were included. The rise far exceeded the 3.5% pay increase awarded to Wessex staff and left Jefferson earning 18 times the company’s median employee. Wessex, which supplies 2.9 million water and sewerage customers in south‑west England including Bristol, Bath and Bournemouth, told its annual report it expected to fall foul of the government’s 2025 bonus ban “particularly in relation to environmental and operational metrics.” The pay disclosure follows earlier Guardian reporting that revealed an additional £51,000 in previously undisclosed payments to Jefferson and chief financial officer Andy Pymer, a matter raised by MPs. The GMB union’s national officer Gary Carter criticised the payments and called on ministers and the regulator to act. The report noted wider industry pushback against the bonus ban, citing Anglian Water’s separate £500,000 retention payment to chief executive Mark Thurston made by its parent company and defended as not performance‑linked.
