Thousands of homes and businesses have been affected by the latest Kent water chaos
David Hinton, chief executive of South East Water, appearing before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Image: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)
The boss of South East Water is in line for a £400,000 bonus, despite weeks of chaos for homes across the county. David Hinton could receive the huge payout if he remains in his role until July 2030.
Hinton would receive the staggering bonus, regardless of his performance, due to a long-term “service award”, the Guardian reports. The news comes as Hinton faces calls to resign amid the latest crisis, which left thousands of homes without water or with intermittent supplies in parts of Kent including Tunbridge Wells.
This also follows the launch of an investigation by Ofwat, the water services regulation authority, into South East Water’s (SEW) handling of the water outage. Hinton, who has been the CEO since 2020, was paid £457,000 in the year to June 2025, it has been revealed – a figure which included £115,000 in additional payments.
And his earnings are expected to rise further this year, even despite the widespread disruption across the county of late. A 30 per cent uplift to his salary – taking it to £400,000 – combined with two newly introduced payments means his total remuneration is projected to reach £565,000 – if the service award is divided equally over the five-year period.
The first payment is a “service award”, worth another £400,000, payable only if Hinton remains in post until July 2030. If he is still in the job, he will receive the first £80,000 in July 2028, a further £80,000 in July 2029, and a final payment of £240,000 scheduled for July 2030.
It has also been revealed SEW granted Hinton an extra £50,000, described as a “cash allowance”, intended to compensate him for working additional hours. Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin said: “Dave Hinton’s salary and bonuses are wild.
“He should be ashamed. Try giving us water first, then let’s talk about the money.”
A number of MPs in Kent have called for Hinton’s resignation. This includes MP Martin and MP for Maidstone and Malling Helen Grant.
At the height of the most recent crisis, which began on Saturday (January 10), SEW reported 30,000 customers across Kent and Sussex were without water or experiencing low water pressure. The outage came on the heels of a similar incident during December, during which 24,000 people in Tunbridge Wells were left without drinking water for two weeks.
A spokesperson for SEW said: “SEW remains committed to a remuneration framework that supports a performance culture, and recognises success but does not reward poor performance. The bonus scheme is evaluated by the company’s independent non-executive director-led remuneration committee.
“The executive directors are not part of this committee and have no say in their remuneration. The bonus scheme is made up of multiple elements, including health and safety factors, an environment programme, and staff engagement.
“We can confirm that no bonus payment was made for operational performance for the year 2024/25. Details of all payments made can be found in our Annual Report on our website.”
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