Pay rise: Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea (pictured) earns £8m a year
The boss of British Gas owner Centrica has admitted there is “inequality” in society as customers use loan sharks to pay their bills.
Chris O’Shea was grilled by MPs over energy costs just months after it was revealed his salary doubled to £8m in 2023.
Their bonuses are tied to their stock prices, which rose. O’Shea, 50, appeared before MPs on the energy and net zero committee and said: ‘I understand the pressure people have been under… people are struggling.
“There is an inequality that we must resolve.” It would take the average Centrica employee 124 years to earn the amount O’Shea took home in 2023.
The Coalition to End Fuel Poverty said a fifth of defaulting households borrowed from illegal lenders in the last year.