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Thames Water is facing fresh calls for its nationalisation after it handed its finance boss a £1million signing-on fee as it drowns in debt.

Britain's largest water company made the deferred payment to Steve Buck, who joined the company in April 2025, following legal advice taken by Thames Water's board.

The troubled utilities group, which has been on the brink of collapse since 2024, has seen its debt pile balloon to £18.5billion and recently flagged that there was 'material uncertainty' as to whether it will secure further liquidity.

The money paid to Buck came from emergency funding provided by Thames Water's lenders, which are working up a new rescue deal.

Its plans include offering the government a 'golden share' in the firm in a last-ditch attempt to fend off full nationalisation.

News of the payment to Buck, first reported by Sky News, has sparked renewed calls for the government to bring Thames Water into public ownership.

Environmentalist and campaigner Feargal Sharkey said: 'Water industry depravity hits an all time low. Their contempt for customers and the environment clearly knows no bounds.'

Thames Water is facing nationalisation as its mountain of debt balloons

He added: 'When are [government] going to intervene and put a stop to this?'

Andy Burnham has previously indicated that the government should take control of the company to write off its debts.

The payment made to Buck was disclosed in a letter sent last week by Sir Adrian Montague, Thames Water's chairman, to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee.

It formed part of a signing-on package to convince Buck, a former finance chief at Pennon Group and Anglian Water, to join Thames as it faced special administration, a form of temporary nationalisation.

Cat Hobbs, director of We Own It, a campaign calling for nationalisation of the water industry, said: 'The Thames Water saga is beyond a joke at this point – they are completely taking the mickey.

'Andy Burnham must step in immediately and take back the company … the shareholders have walked away, and the debt can be drastically cut and refinanced more cheaply in public hands. It's criminal to let this rip off continue with 16 million households paying the price.'

The company disclosed last month that chief executive Chris Weston's total pay package had increased to above £1million last year, including a £99,000 bonus paid despite Thames Water missing environmental and customer service targets.

Thames said that bonus was deferred from a previous year before regulator Ofwat's ban on bonuses for companies that failed to meet environmental, consumer and financial standards was introduced.

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