Sarah Bentley, with her husband on a French skiing break, has received £3.2 million in the past two yearsBosses were rewarded with bumper pay rises and bonuses despite losing millions of litres a day to leaksWater companies have been accused of putting “shareholders before people” after analysis by The Times revealed that they have handed out more than £1 billion in dividends in the past year. MPs and campaigners have urged ministers to “get tough” on water and sewage firms as their profits rise while drought conditions set in. SponsoredAmid mounting criticism of the response to the drought by the 15 companies in England, it emerged that dividend payments to parent companies totalled £1.1 billion in the past year, up 18.7 per cent on the previous 12 months. An analysis of Companies House records found that chief executives at the companies earned £34.1 million in the past two years, including £22 million in bonuses and incentives. Thames Water, which

Source: The Times August 13, 2022 09:55 UTC