UK competition watchdog to investigate Central England Co-op funeral deal August 16, 2021 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will investigate the deal by the Central England Co-op to snap up part of its rival in the funeral care business, the Midcounties Co-op. The UK competition regulator said today it is considering whether the merger deal “may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition” within [...]
Under the pump: Priti Patel among 29 MPs to back call for fuel pricing watchdog December 28, 2022 Priti Patel has joined almost 30 other colleagues in calling for a pump pricing watchdog to tackle the soaring fuel costs for motorists. The former home secretary signed a letter backing FairFuelUK’s call for an oversight body and commissioner to keep prices down, which is also supported by Dame Andrea Leadsom. This comes as motoring [...]
Number 10 renews threat to petrol retailers who don’t pass on fuel duty cut June 8, 2022 Downing Street has renewed threats to name and shame petrol retailers not handing on a 5p cut in fuel duty to customers as UK prices reach almost £2 a litre. Boris Johnson’s spokesman today said the government wants this year’s fuel duty cut to be “passed on at all sites and petrol stations”, but that [...]
PCR test providers need more regulation, says competition watchdog September 10, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has warned that greater regulation of the PCR Covid testing market is required amid fears that competition alone “will not deliver the right outcomes for consumers”. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that without such provisions, testing firms could begin to compete on grounds other than quality, leading to a [...]
Suez strikes £1.75bn deal to buy back UK waste management from Veolia September 21, 2022 French utility Suez SA has struck a €2bn (£1.75bn) deal with Veolia Environment to buy back the UK waste management business it agreed to sell off to its rival last January. Suez has scuppered Macquarie’s bid to buy the British unit after the Australian asset manager struck a deal to acquire the UK business for [...]
CMA says Future’s acquisition of TI Media does not raise competition concerns March 16, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved Future’s acquisition of TI Media, saying it “does not raise competition concerns”. In October 2019, the publisher said it planned to acquire magazine printer TI Media, which owns popular titles Country Life and Marie Claire, for £140m in cash. After completing its initial investigation, the CMA found that [...]
Letters: Open up OpenBanking, but do it well March 29, 2022 [Re: Competition watchdog to unveil open banking regulatory committee after fintech pressure] We’re glad to see the CMA has published new guidance on the future of Open Banking. It’s not so much a resolution, however, as it is a signal that we’ve entered a critical phase of Open Banking development. There are still fundamental issues [...]
Build, Baby, Build: The private sector alone won’t fix the housing crisis June 18, 2024 The private sector has never delivered the 300,000 homes a year the government says we need; local authorities must be part of the solution, say Gideon Salutin and Niamh O Regan All the major parties are promising more homes at this election. Labour has promised 300,000 a year for England, while the Conservatives have pledged [...]
Royal Mail delivery managers to vote on strike action as hundreds of jobs could be axed May 31, 2022 Delivery managers at Royal Mail will be balloted for strike action, with union bosses warning there could be parcel delivery chaos this summer. Postal workers are unhappy with plans to slash some 524 frontline delivery manager roles, with Unite the union declaring there would be a ballot. Some 2,400 managers will decide on whether to [...]
Competition watchdog blasts PCR test firms over consumer law breaches August 25, 2021 The UK competition watchdog has warned of a potential crackdown on PCR Covid test providers amid concerns they may be breaking consumer law. In an open letter the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised concerns about a number of harmful practices in the sector. These included advertising up-front prices for PCR tests that do not [...]