Ex-CMA chair and private sector bosses lobby Sunak over regulators

Published

2 years ago

January 19, 2023

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Lord Tyrie, the former chair of the competition watchdog, is among a group of parliamentarians and private sector chiefs who have joined forces to examine whether regulators are acting as a barrier to investment in Britain.

Sky News has learnt that Bim Afolami, a backbench Conservative MP, has written to the prime minister to call for a “regulatory framework which is pro-innovation, pro-investment and [which] will help the UK to become a more globally competitive economy”.

Mr Afolami wrote to Rishi Sunak in his capacity as chair of the Regulatory Reform Group, which includes Lord Tyrie and MPs such as Sir Robert Buckland, Vicky Ford and Mark Garnier as members.

A private sector advisory council chaired by Tracy Blackwell, chief executive of Pension Insurance Corporation, will work in conjunction with the parliamentarians, according to a copy of the letter seen by Sky News.

Among the other companies represented on the advisory council are NatWest Group, the taxpayer-backed lender, buyout giant CVC Capital Partners and London Stock Exchange Group.

One source familiar with the new group’s agenda said its aim was to examine how the UK could create “a smarter regulatory system – one which is not simply focused on deregulation for its own sake”.

Its establishment comes amid debate about the timing of what has been dubbed a post-Brexit bonfire of EU laws.

Mr Afolami’s letter said the new group would focus on “how regulatory change could benefit communities and households across this country, not just the business community”.

It added that regulators were “as critical as government departments themselves [but]…are rarely subjected to similar levels of scrutiny”.

“We must acknowledge the fundamental impact of Brexit upon our regulatory environment,” the letter said.

“For the first time in decades, UK regulators can chart their own course.

“To make the most of these newfound freedoms, it is important that we fully consider the direction we as a country want to head in, and what will ultimately lead to a more globally competitive and fairer economy for both business and consumers.”

The new group said it was crucial that Britain succeeded in “growth areas” such as artificial intelligence, digital technologies and advanced manufacturing, which “often stray across multiple sectors and span multiple regulatory remits”.

Other members from some of these sectors are expected to be named to the advisory council in due course.

WPI Strategy, a public affairs firm, is understood to be providing research and communications support to the RRG and advisory council.

Business

Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates says he is yet to receive reply to letter to PM

Published

2 hours ago

November 5, 2024

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Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates says he is yet to receive reply to letter to PM

Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates is yet to receive a reply from Sir Keir Starmer, despite writing to him over a month ago.

Sir Alan said he had written to the prime minister to remind him the “clock is still ticking” on a financial redress deadline for victims.

In his letter, he demanded a March 2025 deadline for compensation for sub-postmaster victims of the Horizon scandal.

Sir Alan confirmed to Sky News he was yet to hear back from the prime minister.

“It was over a month ago,” he said.

“I sent him a reminder yesterday. I told him the clock is still ticking and it’s now five months from the March deadline, which I’m told is still achievable by other professionals.

“So let’s get on with it, that’s all we want. Get on with it.”

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Business

Vodafone and Three merger could get green light, says UK’s competition watchdog

Published

9 hours ago

November 5, 2024

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Vodafone and Three merger could get green light, says UK's competition watchdog

A £15bn merger between two of the UK’s biggest mobile networks could get the green light – if they stick to their commitments to invest in the country’s infrastructure, the competition watchdog has said.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the merger of Vodafone and Three had “the potential to be pro-competitive for the UK mobile sector”.

Announced last year, the proposed £15bn merger would bring 27 million customers together under a single provider.

The watchdog previously warned that tens of millions of mobile phone users could end up paying more if the merger went ahead.

However, the two groups recently set out plans to protect consumer pricing and boost network investment.

The CMA has now laid out a list of “remedies” required for the deal to go-ahead.

They include the networks committing to freezing certain tariffs and data plans for at least three years to protect customers from short-term price rises in the early years of the network plan.

Stuart McIntosh, chair of the inquiry group leading the investigation, said on Tuesday: “We believe this deal has the potential to be pro-competitive for the UK mobile sector if our concerns are addressed.

“Our provisional view is that binding commitments combined with short-term protections for consumers and wholesale providers would address our concerns while preserving the benefits of this merger.

“A legally binding network commitment would boost competition in the longer term and the additional measures would protect consumers and wholesale customers while the network upgrades are being rolled out.”

Today’s announcement is provisional, with a final decision due before 7 December. The inquiry group is inviting feedback on today’s announcement by 5pm on 12 November.

The CMA also published a list of potential solutions – which it called remedies – to issues it identified with the merger.

If the networks want the merger to go ahead, the watchdog requires Vodafone and Three to:

• Deliver a joint network plan to set out network upgrades and improvements over eight years;

• Commit to keeping certain existing tariff costs and data plans for at least three years to protect customers from price hikes;

• Commit to pre-agreed prices and contract terms so Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) – mobile providers that do not own the networks they operate on – can obtain competitive wholesale deals.

Vodafone and Three are two of the biggest mobile firms in the UK, and their networks support a number of MVNOs including Asda Mobile, Lebara, Voxi, and Smarty.

Responding to the watchdog’s announcement, a spokesperson for Vodafone on behalf of the merger said: “The merger will be a catalyst for positive change.

“It will bring significant benefits to businesses and consumers throughout the UK, and it will bring advanced 5G to every school and hospital across the country.

“The merger is also closely aligned with the government’s mission to drive growth and to encourage more private investment in the UK.”

Earlier this year, Three’s chief executive hit out at the UK’s “abysmal” 5G speeds and availability as he urged regulators to approve the company’s merger with Vodafone.

Robert Finnegan noted his firm’s “cash flows have been negative since 2020 and our costs have almost doubled in five years, meaning investment in [the] network is unsustainable”.

“UK mobile networks rank an abysmal 22nd out of 25 in Europe on 5G speeds and availability, with the dysfunctional structure of the market denying us the ability to invest sustainably to fix this situation,” he added.

Business

Bosses rail at business secretary over ‘avalanche of costs’

Published

24 hours ago

November 4, 2024

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Bosses rail at business secretary over 'avalanche of costs'

Business leaders expressed frustration with ministers on Monday amid a growing budget backlash that bosses said would trigger an “avalanche of costs” and leave them with no choice but to slash investment and increase prices.

Sky News has learnt that bosses of large retail and hospitality companies and trade associations told Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, that last week’s budget risked damaging consumer confidence and exacerbating challenges facing the UK economy.

Among the dozens of companies represented on the call are said to have been Burger King UK, Fuller Smith & Turner, Greene King, Kingfisher and the supermarket chain Morrisons.

Mr Reynolds is said to have acknowledged that Rachel Reeves‘s inaugural fiscal statement had “asked a lot” of British business, with James Murray, the financial secretary to the Treasury, understood to have described it as “a once-in-a-generation budget”, according to several people briefed on the call.

One insider said that Nick Mackenzie, the chief executive of Greene King, had highlighted that the increase in employers’ national insurance (NI) contributions would cause “a £20m shock” to the company, while Fullers is understood to have warned that it would be forced to halve annual investment from £60m to £30m as a result of increased cost pressures.

Rami Baitieh, the Morrisons chief executive, told Mr Reynolds that the budget had exacerbated “an avalanche of costs” for businesses next year, and asked what the government could do to mitigate them.

Sources added that the CBI, the employers’ group, said its impact would be “severe”, while the British Beer & Pub Association added that there was now a disincentive to invest and flagged “a tsunami” of higher costs.

The range of comments on the call with ministers underlines the scale of discontent in the private sector about Labour’s first budget for nearly 15 years.

Only a small number of interventions during the discussion are said to have been in support of measures announced last week, with the Federation of Small Businesses understood to have praised the doubling of the employment allowance, which would see many of the smallest employers having their NI bills cut by £2,000.

The Department for Business and Trade has been contacted for comment, while none of the companies contacted by Sky News would comment.