CMA’s Roofing Materials Investigation to Continue Into 2020

THE COMPETITION and Markets Authority (CMA) has revealed it expects its investigation into the practices of three rolled lead companies to continue into 2020.

The CMA had extended its period for accepting written and oral representations on its statement of objections until October 2019.

It now expects to be able to provide a further update in February 2020.

The CMA’s investigation into roofing materials started in July 2017, and in March this year the CMA provisionally found that the UK’s three principal suppliers of rolled lead broke competition law.

The companies are:

• Associated Lead Mills Ltd, which has its headquarters in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, and its sister company Jamestown Metals Limited.
• Enthoven Ltd (trading as BLM British Lead, which has its headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) and its parent company Eco-Bat Technologies Limited.
• Calder Industrial Materials Ltd, and its parent company Calder Group Holdings Limited, headquartered in Chester, Cheshire.

The three companies together account for about 90% of the rolled lead market.

Significant Fines

In March, Michael Grenfell, the CMA’s Executive Director for Enforcement, said: “The CMA’s findings are, at this stage in its investigation, provisional and do not necessarily lead to a decision that the companies have breached competition law.

“The firms now have the opportunity to consider the detail of the CMA’s provisional findings and respond to it. The CMA will carefully consider any representations made before issuing its final findings as to whether the law has been broken.”

Any business found to have broken competition law can be fined up to 10% of its annual worldwide group turnover.

>> Read more about lead cartels in the news