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By DAN WOODLAND Published: 13:34 BST, 2 April 2025 | Updated: 13:45 BST, 2 April 2025
A salon boss was left stunned after National Grid offered him an eye watering £12.4million in compensation following a power cut at his business.James Parker couldn’t believe his luck when the energy firm wrote to him a fortnight ago to say he was entitled to the whopping amount of £12,423,397.60. The 54-year-old, who co-owns Asembo hairdressers in Stamford, Lincolnshire, wasn’t even aware he’d be entitled to compensation – let alone an eight-figure number.He quickly began to dream of a luxury lifestyle, with hopes of leaving the country and whisking his family away for an around the world trip.But sadly, James’ hopes of any eccentric escapades soon came crashing down when National Grid realised their mistake and sent him a cheque for £95 instead. The company blamed the incident on an ‘admin error’ and apologised to the salon owner for the mix up. James, who has run the business with wife Natasha, 44, since 2013, admitted his disappointment after momentarily thinking he was a millionaire, but ‘grateful’ for the compensation payment nonetheless. He also joked that National Grid may have mistaken the hairdressers for Heathrow Airport, which was shut down a couple of weeks ago after a fire at a nearby electrical substation. Salon boss James Parker (pictured) was left stunned after National Grid offered him an eye watering £12.4million in compensation following a power cut at his business Although James, who has run the slon with wife Natasha (pictured) together, 44, was later dismayed to find out National Grid had actually made a mistake with the figure He was instead handed a check of £95 to make up for the loss of power at The Asembo hairdressers (pictured) in Stamford, LincolnshireJames said: ‘I struggled to read the number because it was so big – I had to add in spaces.’It really was a having to put your glasses on moment as there weren’t any commas or decimal points, it was hard to see how much was actually there.’They said on the letter that the problem wasn’t rectified in 12 hours – but I don’t think we were open that day anyway.’I definitely didn’t realise we were entitled to £12.4 million.’He added: ‘I am grateful for the final cheque and accept it as an apology for the power cut – although I would have been quicker to accept the apology if it was a cheque for £12.4 million.’I am fairly forgiving!’When asked what he would have done if he’d successfully banked £12.4 million, James joked that he’d leave the country and keep the payout a secret.He quipped that he thought about paying it in at a cash machine to avoid suspicions being raised by bank staff. James (pictured) admitted his disappointment after momentarily thinking he was a millionaire, but ‘grateful’ for the compensation payment nonethelessJames said: ‘With the original amount I would have whisked the family off on an around the world trip but with the revised amount I should just be able to manage a trip around the mid-lent fair for them.’I was thinking I could bank it and see what interest I could get on £12.4 million.’If I could clear it there would be a bit of interest there for a couple of days. It’ll be more than the £95 they gave me in the end.’Most of them are roughly £1,500 a day, something like that. It would be a lot anyway.’If I presented it to the local bank at the till, they would’ve said that wasn’t right.’But if I did it at the machine they would just process it without any human interaction.’If I could have kept it I would have probably disappeared very quickly to get away.’A National Grid Electricity Distribution spokesperson apologised to James for the administrative error and confirmed no incorrect cheques were sent out.They added: ‘We have since sent out new letters advising of the correct payment details and we will be reviewing our processes to prevent this situation reoccurring.’
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National Grid offered me a staggering amount of money after my salon was hit by a power cut – I thought I could retire early until I got a rude awakening
