Co-op admits to breaching order to block rivals opening stores
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that the Co-op breached rules stopping rival supermarkets opening stores near theirs on over 100 occasions.
The Co-operative Group Limited admitted to 107 breaches of an Order put in place to protect competition and stop the use of unlawful anti-competitive land agreements in grocery retailing.
The CMA found that the supermarket chain, which owns almost 2400 stores across the UK and holds a 5.2% market share, breached the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order 2010. The Order was introduced to stop supermarkets imposing restrictions that block rivals from opening competing stores nearby.
By ensuring supermarkets compete freely, the CMA is ensuring that shoppers have more choice and so benefit from a wider range of groceries and access to cheaper prices.
The CMA was concerned that this substantial number of breaches demonstrated a significant failure of compliance for a business of Co-op’s size. The retailer has already addressed 104 of the 107 agreements and has agreed to resolve the remaining three.
In an open letter to Co-op, the CMA said it was “concerned by the large number of breaches” and acknowledged that the supermarket has “proactively taken steps to address the root cause of these breaches”.
A spokesperson for Co-op said they were taking the matter “very seriously” adding that they had taken “all necessary action to ensure this issue is resolved and does not happen again”.
