£4.6m National Grid boss gets £400k to move office 80 miles
THE boss of National Grid has been handed a relocation package worth more than £400,000 to move his office just 80 miles.
John Pettigrew claimed the payments on top of a multi-million pound pay packet for transferring from the company’s headquarters in Warwick to its offices in London.
The allowance covered travel expenses between London and the Midlands, a short-term let and the stamp duty on a property he has bought in the capital to use during the working week.
Mr Pettigrew’s family home remains in Leamington Spa, which is one hour and ten minutes from London by train.
Many people spend their working week commuting that sort of distance to get to and from work with the money coming out of their own pocket. However, the 48-yearold executive has effectively demanded a massive subsidy from the company to fund his new working arrangements.
Details emerged at the same time as National Grid is under fire for making ripoff profits on the back of millions of struggling customers.
Last week, Citizens Advice said National Grid was among 11 firms responsible for the nation’s power lines and gas pipes that made ‘unjustified’ profits of £7.5billion over an eight-year period.
Levies, which add up to an average of £280 a year per household, are added to bills to fund their work. The charity said the scale of the rip-off has been so large that families deserve a rebate. National Grid, which reported an operating profit of £ 4.7billion for the year 2016/2017, rejected the demands and insisted it is providing customers with value for money.
Mr Pettigrew’s pay and perks suggest he was not in need of any further handouts from the company.
Last year, he was paid £4.6million – up from £1.6million the previous year – thanks to a bumper payout from a long-term bonus plan, according to National Grid’s annual report.
The chief executive’s base salary was bumped up last month from £825,000 to £899,250 – a 9 per cent rise.
National Grid said the value of the relocation package was £424,000, which was subject to tax.
A spokesman said: ‘In keeping with our relocation policy which is applicable to all employees whose jobs move location, the company reimbursed him for expenses related to the relocation. These included the rental of accommodation in the short-
‘Unjustified profits’
term and associated expenses, the payment of stamp duty on his purchased property and reasonable travel expenses between London and the Midlands before the purchase was completed.’
It has become normal for Britain’s top companies to pay vast ‘golden hello’ deals, including relocation allowances, for new bosses poached from other sectors. However, Mr Pettigrew has been with National Grid throughout his working life. He joined as a graduate trainee in 1991, a year after the firm was privatised, and took over as chief executive early last year.
Mr Pettigrew rarely speaks outside the business, but did go public earlier this year to oppose Labour’s proposals to renationalise the energy industry, saying he was not convinced the tens of billions it would cost would be in the interest of taxpayers or energy consumers.