Thames Water said: “Sir Adrian resigned as chairman of Kemble Water Holding Limited and its Kemble subsidiaries on 17 February 2024, because he felt the time was right to fully focus on the work ahead at Thames Water.
The Observer and Democracy for Sale have established that officials were concerned before the dividend was paid that Sir Adrian Montague was the chair of both Thames Water and its controlling company Kemble Water Holdings.
Thames Water chairman accused of conflict of interest over £37m share dividend payment Defra officials concerned about ‘conflicted position’ of Sir Adrian Montague over dual role chairing holding company.
Ofwat said: “We were aware of the potential for a conflict of interest to arise through the dual roles [held by Montague], and Ofwat requested and received assurance from the company that these points were recognised and would be managed pro-actively.” It said its investigation into the dividend payments was not yet concluded and it would be inappropriate to provide further comment.
The July 2023 note prepared for a meeting between Montague and officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) stated: “The company and its directors may well need to make decisions that diverge from the interest of shareholders.” Montague, an experienced City “troubleshooter”, had already told Ofwat he would step down if a conflict “was to arise”, it shows.
