Row over '£13m exit' for British Gas boss Apart from his salary, Mr Bentley could also walk away with £6.7m of share options, bonuses and a £3.6m pension pot paying £210,000 a year. Responding to claims this could add up to as much as £13m, Labour energy spokesman Tom Greatrex said: "When hard-pressed families are having their incomes squeezed it will strike many as an obscene level of reward." The GMB said reports suggesting Mr Bentley was responsible for alienating staff at the energy company had "misrepresented" the positive relationship workers had with him. "Industrial relations have never been more positive," the GMB said, adding it was "furious there has been an attempt to link a story about [Mr] Bentleys" departure, to relations with GMB, the largest union in British Gas." The union said that the timing of the news of Mr Bentley's impending departure was also of "deep concern." "We are in the middle of winter," it stated. Our members should be focused on keeping British Gas customers safe and warm. The way this has come out is impacting morale and makes no sense for the business. Mr Bentley, who has been running British Gas since 2007, is understood to have strategic differences with Mr Laidlaw. Although Mr Bentley has been successful at improving British Gas" customer service demands, Mr Laidlaw is keen for British Gas to focus on new ways to promote growth in the face of creeping regulation.