More Competition Law Fines - Scottish roofing contractors fined for collusive bidding
In July six roofing contractors were found to have agreed to fix the prices of flat roofing services in Western-Central Scotland through collusive tendering. They have been fined almost £260,000 in total (reduced to about £138,000 by leniency) by the Office of Fair Trading.
Anthony Heath, a partner in our Civil Litigation Department says:
"All local businesses ought to be aware that they are not allowed to fix prices or agree bids between them. It can be sensible to have a competition law compliance programme in place which we can draft for you so all staff know what they can and cannot do. This helps avoid 10% of turnover fines which the OFT has powers to level. In addition in July the OFT announced that it had searched the premises of 22 companies in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire under warrant as part of an investigation into allegations of collusive tendering for public and private contracts in the construction industry between 2000 and 2005. The investigation is currently being conducted under the OFT's civil powers under the Competition Act 1998. However, the OFT does not rule out the possibility that the investigation may uncover some behaviours in breach of the criminal cartel offence under section 188 of the Enterprise Act 2002.
If you want advice on what you can and cannot do in this area contact Anthony Heath on 0117 929 0451 or email aheath@metcalfes.co.uk
This press release summarises the law on issues which we believe may be of interest to your business. It is not a comprehensive review of the subjects and accordingly is published without responsibility for loss occasioned to any person(s) acting or refraining from action as a result of information published