NFRC Suspends BLM British Lead over Lead Cartel

THE NFRC has formally suspended HJ Enthoven Limited, trading as BLM British Lead after it was found guilty of forming a lead cartel.

BLM British Lead is a NFRC Supplier Member and has been suspended by the NFRC management board, on the advice of the NFRC Risk Advisory Committee, for one year, for breaching the competition clause of the NFRC’s Code of Practice.

The suspension of the company follows the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) finding that BLM British Lead is guilty of forming a cartel.

CMA fined BLM British Lead £8 million for breaking the law by entering into four anti-competitive arrangements with Associated Lead Mills Ltd (ALM).

CMA also disqualified BLM company director Jocelyn Campbell.

Lead Cartel

The four cartel arrangements taking place between October 2015 and April 2019, were:

• Colluding on prices.
• Sharing the rolled lead market by arranging not to target certain customers.
• Arranging not to supply a new business because it risked disrupting the firms’ existing customer relationships.
• Exchanges of commercially sensitive information.

Associated Lead Mills (ALM) ceased their membership of NFRC in January 2021, and so were not subject to the NFRC investigation.

NFRC Suspension of BLM British Lead

BLM British Lead will have a right to appeal and will have the opportunity to re-join the NFRC in one year’s time. The company can re-join NFRC if it can demonstrate it has put processes in to place to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.

James Talman CEO NFRC

NFRC CEO James Talman said: “This decision demonstrates that NFRC ‘s Code has teeth, and we mean what we say when we stand for roofing excellence. Our Code is clear that all our members, both Trade and Supplier, should agree to conduct operations with the principles of fair competition. This case was a clear breach of this and through due process resulted in suspension.

“We hope this sends a clear message to the wider industry that anti-competitive arrangements such as this are not tolerated within our membership.

“We are working closely with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to raise awareness of competition law and the lessons that can be learnt from this case. We urge all in our industry to refresh their knowledge of the relevant guidance in this area and familiarise yourselves with this case.”

>> Read more about the Lead Cartel in the news