Several cartels involving ten construction suppliers conspired to rig bids for contracts worth £150mn and cheat clients including Selfridges and Oxford university, the UK competition regulator has found.
On Friday, the Competition and Markets Authority said it had provisionally found that the businesses colluded over contract tenders for demolition and asbestos removal projects.
The three-year investigation is part of a wider crackdown into anti-competitive behaviour in the construction industry by the CMA, which has resulted in millions of pounds in fines and 11 directors being disqualified.
The CMA has the power to fine companies of up to 10 per cent of turnover for breaches of the Competition Act. It can also pursue criminal cases for cartel offences and take individuals to court, resulting in potential prison sentences for those convicted.
The update on Friday related to a civil probe. According to the watchdog, eight of the construction groups, including Brown and Mason Group, Cantillon and Keltbray admitted to being involved in at least one instance of “bid rigging”.
Erith and Squibb, two of UK’s largest privately owned construction groups, have not admitted their involvement and will now have a chance to respond to the CMA’s provisional findings.
Keltbray said it “strongly condemns anti-competitive practices” and noted the findings related “to isolated activities of a previous management team in a subsidiary business”.
The company said it had…