#VOOM 2016 - The Professionals

#VOOM 2016 – Suzanne Rab selected as one of the Professionals

Suzanne Rab, Competition Law barrister at Serle Court Chambers has been selected to help Sir Richard Branson’s #VOOM 2016 team find the cream of entrepreneurs from across the UK and Ireland.

Out of a pool of 15,000 applicants Suzanne will be one of 12 experts selected from a range of disciplines including law, marketing, accountancy, mentoring and entrepreneurship to be #VOOM 2016 professionals.  As a member of this team, she will play an integral part in every stage of the selection process.  At the 29 hour Pitchathon on 1 and 2 June the judges will whittle 160 shortlisted entrants down to 40 semi-finalists.  These businesses all have their sights on the Live Finale on 28 June, where six finalists will pitch to Sir Richard Branson and win a share of £1 million in prizes.

Further details can be found at:

https://www.vmbvoom.com/professionals

CMA fines refrigerator supplier for price maintenance

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has fined fridge supplier ITW Ltd over £2 million for breaching competition law by restricting dealers from offering online discounts.  The decision confirms the CMA’s focus on tackling competition law breaches in the e-commerce sector.

The CMA issued a statement of objections to ITW in January 2016 and at that time also issued objections against bathroom suppliers for similar practices.  Last month the CMA imposed a £826,000 fine on the bathroom suppliers.

ITW admitted that its fridge business unit Foster Refrigeration was involved in resale price maintenance in the online sales of commercial refrigerators between 2012 and 2014.  According to the CMA, Foster Refrigeration set minimum price floors and sanctions if the dealers failed to comply including cutting off supplies or charging them higher prices for fridges.

The fine imposed on Foster reflects a 10 per cent reduction due to ITW agreeing to set up a compliance programme and a 20 per cent reduction for the company’s cooperation with the CMA’s investigation.

The CMA has stated that it has warned 20 other commercial catering businesses that they may have been involved in similar restrictive practices relating to online sales.  It appears that these warnings have been sent to dealers who may have agreed to the restrictions and not only to the suppliers imposing them.  The fact that the CMA has not fined the dealers in these cases may suggest that if similar practices occur in the future, dealers may not get off as lightly.

CMA press release 24 May 2016:  https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fridge-supplier-fined-22-million-for-restricting-online-discounts

A Bill for Better Markets

The UK is poised for new legislation which the government claims will improve Britain’s competitiveness.  The aim of the Better Markets Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech is “to open up markets, boost competition, give consumers more power and choice and make economic regulators work better”.

The government says that the reforms will give consumers more protection when things go wrong.  It is also claimed that they will simplify the way economic regulators operate to make things more straightforward for business and cut red tape.

Another proposal is to speed up decisions from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) “to benefit both businesses and consumers”.  It is heralded that this reform will “help deliver the manifesto commitment to increase competition and consumer choice in the energy market”.

Following very shortly after the CMA issued proposed remedies in its retail banking market investigation the reforms remind that such investigations as are pending in energy and banking are lengthy and a huge drain on business and regulatory resources.  However, it is not clear whether further truncating the 18 month timetable would be achievable in practice and whether it would produce the right results if the CMA is put under pressure to deliver within a curtailed timeframe.

 The new legislation will follow the raft of recent reforms to UK competition law under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  It is still too early to tell whether those changes to the enforcement machinery are achieving their desired effects.  While we know the broad shape of the better markets reforms, they have appeared rather from the left field leaving many among the competition law bar wondering what’s next.  More change is not always for the better.