Gas giant boss sees pay 1op £1.8m

THE head of Scottish and British Gas parent company Centrica earned almost £1.9 million in 2007, it was revealed last night.

News of chief executive Sam Laidlaw's £1.87m package – more than £5,100 a day – comes weeks after a five-fold increase in British Gas profits to £571m last year sparked outrage from consumer groups. British Gas, which hiked its energy bills in January, hauled in the profits last year after waiting to pass on cheaper wholesale gas costs to customers.

Laidlaw oversaw a 40 per cent increase in operating profits across the overall group to £1.95 billion last year. His salary of £873,000 was boosted by a bonus and other benefits.