Supermarkets round on Aldi and Lidl over ‘rigged’ system Retail A host of leading British supermarkets have rounded on German discounters Aldi and Lidl over fears competition is being “distorted” by a “rigged” system. Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Iceland are ramping up pressure on the competition watchdog to crack down on Aldi and Lidl’s ability to block rivals from opening new stores on nearby land. The [...]
Drop the drip pricing: Consumer watchdog snarls at sneaky fees added late in online bookings Business Online consumers hit by ‘drip pricing’ – when last-second, unavoidable costs are added at the checkout – may be about to save some cash, as websites levying such ‘sneaky fees’ move to the forefront of a crackdown from regulators. The Competition and Markets Authority announced its latest action against this illegal-but-widespread practice yesterday. It slapped [...]
Sport data giant Sportradar slapped with lawsuits in UK and US Sport Business The $5bn valued sport data giant Sportradar has been slapped with a pair of lawsuits for “aggressive actions” towards software company Altenar. Action has been filed in London’s High Court, while there is a Stateside suit heading to the US District Court of New Jersey. Both are claims for multi-million pounds and dollars respectively. The [...]
Just Eat and Autotrader face fake reviews investigation March 27, 2026 Just Eat and Autotrader are among five firms being probed by the competition watchdog as it uses new fake review rules to crack down on businesses. The food delivery firm’s ratings system may have inflated the star ratings of some restaurants and grocers, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), while the used car [...]
Petrol retailers pull out of Reeves meeting over ‘abuse’ of staff March 13, 2026 Petrol retailers have pulled out of a meeting with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, claiming the government’s warnings against “price gouging” have led to forecourt staff being abused. The head of the Petrol Retailer’s Association (PRA) called off the meeting at late notice on Friday, after Reeves’ office allegedly refused to hold the tete-a-tete behind closed doors. [...]
How geopolitics is influencing investment March 6, 2026 The UK’s classification of AI as critical infrastructure is being paradoxically balanced by increasingly strict national security scrutiny on ownership, investment, and partnerships, introducing political risk into the innovation pipeline, says Claire Trachet Britain classified AI as critical national infrastructure last September, sitting it alongside defence, energy and telecommunications. At Davos this year, former UK [...]
Competition watchdog probes top hotel chains over data sharing March 2, 2026 The UK’s competition watchdog has launched a probe into top hotel chains including Hilton, Marriott and FTSE 100 giant IHG over their suspected use of a data analytics tool to share information with each other. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced the investigation on Monday morning, which centres around the hotel chains’ use of [...]
Former Amazon boss to keep CMA chair February 23, 2026 Doug Gurr has been confirmed as the government’s preferred candidate to continue in the role of chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Gurr, a former boss of Amazon UK, was parachuted into the role on an interim basis last January, but will now complete a full five-year term. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said [...]
Competition is key to turning British scale-ups into global firms September 10, 2025 As other countries reap the benefits of home-grown UK talent, the CMA is committed to cracking the UK's scale-up challenge, writes Sarah Cardell.
Aviva’s profit soars ahead of merger with Direct Line August 14, 2025 Aviva posted a profit jump for the first half of the year after strong growth across its wealth and insurance divisions. The company’s operating profit climbed 22 per cent to just north of £1bn – topping the £875m netted in the first half of 2024. This comes after Aviva completed its £3.7bn takeover of rival [...]