Supply of construction services
The CMA is investigating suspected anti-competitive arrangements in the supply of construction services in the United Kingdom which may infringe Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998.
Case timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 12 June 2023 | Publication of non-confidential version of the infringement decision |
| 23 March 2023 | Infringement decision issued |
| February 2023 | Ongoing consideration of representations (next update March 2023) |
| January 2023 | Ongoing consideration of representations (next update February 2023) |
| November 2022 | Ongoing consideration of representations (next update January 2023) |
| June to November 2022 | Receipt and consideration of representations on the statement of objections |
| 24 June 2022 | Issue of Statement of Objections and settlement announced |
| March 2022 | Investigation continuing (next update July 2022) |
| December 2021 | Investigation continuing (next update March 2022) |
| February 2021 | Decision taken to continue with the investigation (next update October 2021) |
| December 2020 | Further investigatory steps and assessment of evidence (next update February 2021) |
| June 2020 | Further investigatory steps and assessment of evidence (next update December 2020) |
| October 2019 | Decision taken to proceed with investigation (further update June 2020) |
| March 2019 to September 2019 | Initial investigation: information gathering |
Appeals to the Competition Appeal Tribunal
20 December 2024: The Competition Appeal Tribunal has handed down its judgment in respect of Keltbray바카라 사이트檚 appeal. In disposing of the appeal, the Tribunal has increased the penalty payable by Keltbray from 拢16 million to 拢18 million.
15 March 2024: Squibb바카라 사이트檚 Appeal is withdrawn pursuant to an Order from the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
23 May 2024: Keltbray and Squibb appealed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal in respect of the CMA바카라 사이트檚 Decision.
Juliette Enser, Executive Director of Competition Enforcement at the Competition and Markets Authority, said:
We are pleased that the Competition Appeal Tribunal has increased the penalty Keltbray has to pay from 拢16 million to 拢18 million for their part in illegal bid-rigging in the form of cover bidding. This judgment confirms that serious breaches of competition law, including for cover bidding, will result in significant penalties.
The CAT agreed that, having appealed, Keltbray should lose the discount it received for settling. The CAT바카라 사이트檚 judgment confirms that companies will be held to their agreements 바카라 사이트� companies which settle cannot take the CMA to court and expect to retain their discounts.
Today바카라 사이트檚 decision should act as a reminder that the CMA will not tolerate unlawful conduct which harms competition and can keep prices up at the expense of businesses and taxpayers.
Change log
The following changes have been made to the case timetable since it was first published in March 2019:
| Date of change | Reason for change | Change made to timetable |
|---|---|---|
| 21 December 2021 | Additional time needed to undertake steps | Date of further update changed from October 2021 to December 2021 |
| 1 June 2020 | Additional time needed to gather and analyse additional information | Date of further update changed from April 2020 to June 2020 |
Non-confidential infringement decision
12 June 2023: The CMA has published a non-confidential version of the decision in this case.
- (12.6.23)
Director disqualification undertakings
25 May 2023: The CMA has secured the disqualification of a further director involved in the unlawful conduct. Nicholas Brown (current director of Brown and Mason) has been disqualified for a period of 7 years.
23 March 2023: The CMA has secured the disqualification of 3 directors of companies involved in the unlawful conduct. These are Mr David Darsey (formerly a director of Erith) for a period of 5 years and 10 months from 2 February 2023, Mr Michael Cantillon (formerly a director of Cantillon) for 7 years and 6 months and Paul Cluskey (current director of Cantillon) for 4 years and 6 months.
Find out more on the Supply of construction services director disqualification case page.
Infringement decision
23 March 2023: The CMA has issued a decision finding 10 suppliers of demolition and asbestos services breached competition law by taking part in bid rigging, in the form of cover bidding.
Fines totalling almost 拢60 million have been imposed on:
- Brown and Mason Group Ltd (바카라 사이트楤rown and Mason바카라 사이트�)
- Cantillon Ltd, Cantillon Holdings Ltd (together 바카라 사이트楥antillon바카라 사이트�)
- Clifford Devlin Ltd (바카라 사이트楥lifford Devlin바카라 사이트�)
- DSM Demolition Ltd, DSM SFG Group Holdings Ltd, Nobel Midco Ltd, Nobel Topco Ltd (together 바카라 사이트楧SM바카라 사이트�)
- Erith Contractors Ltd, Erith Holdings Ltd (together 바카라 사이트楨rith바카라 사이트�)
- John F Hunt Ltd, John F Hunt Group Ltd (together 바카라 사이트楯ohn F Hunt바카라 사이트�)
- Keltbray Ltd, Keltbray Holdings Ltd (together 바카라 사이트楰eltbray바카라 사이트�)
- McGee Group (Holdings) Ltd, MFCOIL Ltd (together 바카라 사이트楳cGee바카라 사이트�)
- T. E. Scudder Ltd, P.J. Carey Plant Hire (Oval) Ltd, Carey Group Ltd (together 바카라 사이트楽cudder바카라 사이트�)
- Squibb Group Ltd
Brown and Mason, Cantillon, Clifford Devlin, DSM, John F Hunt, Keltbray, McGee and Scudder were handed reduced fines as settling parties who had admitted their involvement in the cartel activity. McGee바카라 사이트檚 and Scudder바카라 사이트檚 penalties also include a discount under the CMA바카라 사이트檚 Leniency programme.
- Press release: Construction firms fined nearly 60 million for breaking competition law by bid rigging (23.3.23)
Statement of Objections and settlement
24 June 2022: On 23 June 2022, the CMA issued a statement of objections provisionally finding that 10 suppliers of demolition and removal of asbestos services breached competition law by taking part in bid rigging, in the form of cover bidding. The statement is addressed to Brown and Mason Group Limited (as economic successor to the company directly involved in the infringement, Brown and Mason Limited (바카라 사이트楤rown and Mason바카라 사이트�)); Cantillon Limited (바카라 사이트楥antillon바카라 사이트�), and its parent company, Cantillon Holdings Limited; Clifford Devlin Limited (바카라 사이트楥lifford Devlin); DSM Demolition Limited (바카라 사이트楧SM바카라 사이트�) and its parent companies, DSM SFG Group Holdings Limited Nobel Midco Limited and Nobel Topco Limited; Erith Contractors Limited (바카라 사이트楨rith바카라 사이트�) and its parent company Erith Holdings Limited; John F Hunt Limited (바카라 사이트楯ohn F Hunt바카라 사이트�) and its parent company John F Hunt Group Limited; Keltbray Limited (바카라 사이트楰eltbray바카라 사이트�) and Keltbray Holdings Limited (as economic successor to Keltbray바카라 사이트檚 parent company Keltbray Group (Holdings) Limited); McGee Group (Holdings) Limited (바카라 사이트楳cGee바카라 사이트�) and its parent company MFCOIL Limited; T. E. Scudder Limited (바카라 사이트楽cudder바카라 사이트�), P.J. Carey Plant Hire (Oval) Limited and Scudder바카라 사이트檚 parent company, Carey Group Limited; and Squibb Group Limited (바카라 사이트楽quibb바카라 사이트�)
Eight of the firms 바카라 사이트� Brown and Mason; Cantillon; Clifford Devlin; DSM; John F Hunt; Keltbray; McGee and Scudder 바카라 사이트� have admitted their participation in the alleged bid rigging and agreed to pay fines under the CMA바카라 사이트檚 settlement policy. Provided they comply with the terms of the settlement, any fines of the settling firms will be discounted to reflect the resource savings to the CMA generated by the firms바카라 사이트� admissions and their cooperation with the CMA바카라 사이트檚 investigation. The final level of any fines will be decided by a new case decision group, in accordance with the CMA바카라 사이트檚 administrative process.
Scudder and McGee also reported their involvement in the conduct under the CMA바카라 사이트檚 leniency policy and will also benefit from a leniency discount on any fines, provided they continue to co-operate and comply with the other conditions of the CMA바카라 사이트檚 leniency policy.
The CMA바카라 사이트檚 investigation into 2 further companies, Erith Contractors Limited and Squibb Group Limited continues and no assumption should be made that they have infringed the law.
- Press release: CMA provisionally finds illegal cartels in construction industry (24.6.22)
Case information
The investigation concerns suspected infringements of Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98).
This case is at an early stage and no assumption should be made that the CA98 has been infringed. The CMA has not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a statement of objections to any of the parties under investigation. Not all cases result in the CMA issuing a statement of objections.
If the CMA issues a statement of objections, it will provide the addressees of that statement of objections with an opportunity to make written and oral representations. Find more information in the CMA바카라 사이트檚 Procedures in Competition Act cases.
Personal data
The CMA may collect, use and share personal data for its investigations, including investigations under the Competition Act 1998. This includes processing personal data for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
You can find more information about how the CMA handles personal information in the CMA바카라 사이트檚 Personal Information Charter.
Contacts
Investigation Team Leader
Padraig Sheerin, padraig.sheerin@cma.gov.uk
Assistant Project Directors
Richard Brown, richard.brown@cma.gov.uk
Laila Benfaida, laila.benfaida@cma.gov.uk
Project Directors
Emma Lindsay, emma.lindsay@cma.gov.uk
Sean McNabb , sean.mcnabb@cma.gov.uk
Senior Responsible Officer
Juliette Enser juliette.enser@cma.gov.uk
Media enquiries
020 3738 6460, press@cma.gov.uk
Updates to this page
-
Appeals to the Competition Appeal Tribunal published
-
Non-confidential infringement decision published.
-
Competition disqualification undertaking from a further director announced
-
Director disqualification undertakings and Infringement decision published
-
Administration timetable updated.
-
Case timetable update published.
-
Update to administration timetable published.
-
Statement of Objections and settlement published.
-
Case timetable updated.
-
Additions to the case timetable and change log published.
-
Case timetable updated.
-
Case timetable updated.
-
Case timetable and change log updated.
-
Decision taken to proceed with investigation.
-
First published.