Swinging The Lead - £9m Fines For Illegal Cartel

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• Swinging The Lead - £9m Fines For Illegal Cartel

The Competition and Markets Authority has imposed fines totalling more than £9 million on two of the UK’s largest suppliers of rolled lead, for breaking competition law.

Rolled lead is an important product for the UK construction industry, used mainly for roofing - including conservatory and extension roofs.

Following an investigation into suspected cartel conduct, CMA found that Hertfordshire based firms, Associated Lead Mills Ltd (ALM) and H.J. Enthoven Ltd (trading as BLM British Lead), had broken the law by entering into anti-competitive arrangements. Both firms admitted their roles in the illegal cartel earlier this year and now face fines of £1.5 million and £8 million respectively.

Previously, the CMA had provisionally found that a third company, Calder Industrial Materials Ltd, had become involved at a later stage in one of the arrangements, however, the CMA has now determined that there are no grounds for action in respect of this firm.

Four times

The four anti-competitive arrangements took place between October 2015 and April 2017 and included colluding on prices, sharing the rolled lead market by arranging not to target certain customers, and arranging not to supply a new business because it risked disrupting the firms’ existing customer relationships. Each of the arrangements also included exchanges of commercially sensitive information.

 “These companies knowingly entered into illegal arrangements restricting competition between them. Such anti-competitive arrangements tend to inflate prices and cheat customers out of a fair deal. The CMA does not tolerate such behaviour.”

– Michael Grenfell 

Executive Director of Enforcement, Competition and Markets Authority

Under spotlight

"Construction is a sector firmly under our spotlight and if businesses break the law by entering into anti-competitive arrangements, they run the risk of large fines," concluded the CMA's Grenfell.

Picture: A complete lead roof.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
06th November 2020

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