South East Water (SEW) chief executive David Hinton has announced he will forgo his bonus for the 2025/2026 financial year, following widespread criticism over water outages that affected thousands of customers in Kent and Sussex. Hinton, who earns a £400,000 salary, made the decision after facing intense scrutiny from MPs during a Parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee hearing.
The outages, which occurred in Tunbridge Wells in November and December and across Kent and Sussex in January, left residents without tap water, unable to shower or flush toilets, and forced several schools to close. Hinton apologised for the “unacceptable outages” and acknowledged the serious impact on customers, stating, “In recognition of this, I have made the decision not to accept any bonus for the 2025/2026 year.”
During the hearing, SEW chairman Chris Train revealed that Hinton had indicated he would surrender any bonus the board might have awarded. When pressed by committee chair Alistair Carmichael on whether the board had intended to give a bonus, Train replied, “No.” Carmichael also questioned why bonuses and salary increases had been awarded despite years of failures, to which Train defended the board’s remuneration decisions as necessary to attract quality executives.
MPs repeatedly challenged Train on the lack of leadership changes, citing criticism from the prime minister, shareholders, and customers. Train defended the board’s decision to retain Hinton and the executive team, stating they were “the right solution for delivering what is best for South East Water customers.” He added that the firm is bolstering its leadership with external hires to address the issues.
Hinton, appointed CEO in 2020, received £457,000 in the last financial year, including a £115,000 bonus. Reports indicate his basic salary will increase by 30% this year, though he will not receive a bonus.
