{"id":53287,"date":"2019-03-01T12:57:14","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T12:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=53287"},"modified":"2019-07-31T11:53:34","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T10:53:34","slug":"five-fit-out-competition-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/five-fit-out-competition-law\/53287\/","title":{"rendered":"Five fit-out companies fined \u00a37m for breaking competition law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following a Competition and Markets Authority<\/a> (CMA) investigation \u2013 Fourfront, Loop, Coriolis, ThirdWay and Oakley have agreed to pay fines totalling over \u00a37m after admitting being involved in cartel behaviour<\/h2>\n

Each company has admitted to breaking competition law<\/a> at least once during the period of 2006 \u2013 2017, in some cases on multiple occasions. Also, they have all admitted to participating in \u201ccover bidding<\/a>\u201d in competitive tenders, colluding on the prices they would bid for contracts.<\/p>\n

Typically, cover bidding involves companies agreeing with each other to place bids that are deliberately intended to lose the contract, thereby reducing the intensity of competition. This type of illegal behaviour<\/a> can lead to customers paying an artificially inflated price or receiving poorer quality services.<\/p>\n

These cover bids affected 14 contracts with a variety of customers, ranging from a City law firm to a further education college.<\/p>\n

Andrea Coscelli<\/a>, the CMA\u2019s Chief Executive, said: \u201cThe CMA is concerned it is seeing a lot of evidence of anti-competitive conduct in the construction industry, and we have already taken a number of cases in this sector. Today\u2019s fines reinforce the message that the CMA will not tolerate competition law being broken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any business found to have infringed the Competition Act 1998<\/a> can be fined up to 10% of its annual worldwide group turnover, and directors of the companies concerned can be banned from holding directorships for up to 15 years.<\/p>\n

The 5 companies have formally admitted that their actions constituted a breach of competition law<\/a>. They have therefore agreed to pay the following fines that reflect a number of factors including the companies\u2019 size and financial position, and their role in the cartel behaviour:<\/p>\n