Design, construction and fit-out services
The CMA has investigated suspected anti-competitive arrangements in the design, construction and fit-out services sector under the Competition Act 1998.
Case reference: 50481
Case timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 10 December 2019 | Two directors granted permission to continue to act as directors |
| 29 July 2019 | Further director disqualification undertakings announced |
| 31 May 2019 | Non-confidential infringement decision published |
| 10 May 2019 | Director disqualification undertakings announced |
| 12 April 2019 | Infringement decision issued |
| 1 March 2019 | Statement of objections issued |
| 1 March 2019 | Settlement announced |
| December 2018 | Investigation continuing (further update by the end of March 2019) |
| July 2018 | Decision taken to continue the investigation and extend it to include more parties (further update by the end of December 2018) |
| May 2018 | Investigation continuing and assessing evidence (further update by the end of July 2018) |
| December 2017 | Decision taken to proceed with the investigation |
| July to December 2017 | Initial investigation: inspections, information gathering, including issuance of formal or informal information requests and parties’ responses |
Leave to act applications
10 December 2019: Following the hearing of the applications of Mr Aki Stamatis and Mr Sion Davies to the court for permission to act as directors and take part in the management of certain companies on 12 November 2019, Mr Aki Stamatis and Mr Sion Davies have been granted permission to continue to act as directors, subject to strict conditions, in the particular circumstances of this case. The two disqualified directors may take part in the management of certain companies within the Fourfront Group during their term of disqualification but may not take on the directorship of any other company.
- News story: CMA Statement on design, construction and fit out services director disqualification (10.12.19)
- See the Design, construction and fit out services director disqualification page
Director disqualification undertakings
29 July 2019: The Competition and Markets Authority accepted competition disqualification undertakings from Mr Clive Lucking, Mr Aki Stamatis and Mr Sion Davies.
Mr Clive Lucking is a former director of Area Sq. Limited, Cube Interior Solutions Limited, Fourfront Group Limited and Fourfront Holdings Limited. He was also the CEO of Fourfront Group from 2006 until May 2018. Mr Lucking has given a disqualification undertaking not to act as a director of any UK company for 4 years and 9 months.
Mr Aki Stamatis is a current director of Area Sq. Limited, Cube Interior Solutions Limited, Fourfront Group Limited and Fourfront Holdings Limited. He has also been Chairman of Fourfront Group since 2006. Mr Stamatis has given a disqualification undertaking not to act as a director of any UK company for a period of 2 years and 9 months.
Mr Sion Davies is a current director of Area Sq. Limited. Mr Davies has given a disqualification undertaking not to act as a director of any UK company for a period of 1 year and 6 months.
- News story: 6 company directors disqualified for office fit-out cartel (31.7.19)
- See the Design, construction and fit out services director disqualification page
Non-confidential infringement decision
31 May 2019: The CMA has published a non-confidential version of the decision in this case.
The CMA also published a short case study to help businesses understand more about illegal cover bidding and to encourage compliance with competition law.
- (31.5.19)
Director disqualification undertakings
10 May 2019: The CMA announced that it had secured legally binding disqualification undertakings from 3 former directors of the office fit-out firms found to have infringed competition law.
Mr Robb Simms-Davies, a former director of Bluu Solutions Ltd, Bluuco Ltd and Tetris Projects Ltd has given a disqualification undertaking not to act as a director of a company based in England and Wales or Scotland for 5 years. Bluu Solutions Ltd, Bluuco Ltd and Tetris Projects Ltd are part of the JLL group of companies. Bluu Solutions Ltd and Bluuco Ltd were acquired by JLL in 2015.
Mr Trevor Hall, a former director of Cube Interior Solutions Ltd, and Mr Oliver Hammond, a former director of Area Sq. Ltd, have also given disqualification undertakings not to act as a director of a company based in England and Wales or Scotland for 2 years and 6 months, and 2 years, respectively. Cube Interior Solutions and Area Sq. Ltd are part of the Fourfront group of companies.
Under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA), the CMA has the power to apply to the court to disqualify a director from holding company directorships or performing certain roles in relation to a company for a specified period, if a company which he or she is a director of has breached competition law. The CDDA also allows the CMA to accept a disqualification undertaking from a director instead of bringing proceedings, which has the same legal effect as a disqualification order.
- News story: 3 directors of office fit-out firms disqualified (10.5.19)
- See the Design, construction and fit out services director disqualification page.
Infringement Decision
12 April 2019: The CMA issued a decision finding that 6 office fit-out firms, JLL, Fourfront, Loop, Coriolis, ThirdWay, and Oakley have infringed competition law by engaging in cover bidding. The CMA imposed fines totaling over £7 million on five of these undertakings.
JLL has not been fined as it was the first undertaking to confess its participation in the arrangement under the CMA’s leniency programme and co-operated with the CMA’s investigation.
Settlement and Statement of Objections
1 March 2019: Fourfront, Loop, Coriolis, ThirdWay, and Oakley have admitted infringing competition law and the CMA has issued a statement of objections to them. Each undertaking has accepted liability for at least one infringement which took the form of cover bidding in relation to contracts for the supply of services involving the fit-out, design and refurbishment of commercial and non-residential premises.
5 of these undertakings have agreed to pay fines totalling over £7 million, which includes a 20% settlement discount to reflect the resource savings to the CMA generated by the companies’ admissions and their agreement to a streamlined administrative procedure.
The statement of objections is also addressed to JLL, which will not be fined as long as it continues to co-operate and complies with the other conditions of the CMA’s leniency policy.
- Press release: 5 office fit-out firms to pay £7 million fine for breaking competition law (1.3.19)
Case information
On 19 July 2017, the CMA launched an investigation into suspected anti-competitive arrangements in relation to the supply of design, construction and fit-out services in the UK which may infringe Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98).
No assumption should be made at this stage that the CA98 has been infringed. The CMA has not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a statement of objections to any of the parties under investigation. Not all cases result in the CMA issuing a statement of objections.
If the CMA issues a statement of objections, it will provide the addressee(s) of that statement of objections with an opportunity to make written and oral representations. See here for further detail of the CMA’s Procedures in Competition Act cases.
Personal data
The CMA may collect, use and share personal data for its investigations, including investigations under the Competition Act 1998. This includes processing personal data for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
For more information about how the CMA handles personal information, please see the CMA’s Personal Information Charter.
Contacts
Investigation team leader
Gary Bracken (gary.bracken@cma.gov.uk)
Assistant project director
Jennifer Brady (jennifer.brady@cma.gov.uk)
Project director
Lucilia Falsarella Pereira (lucilia.falsarella-pereira@cma.gov.uk)
Senior responsible officer
Howard Cartlidge (howard.cartlidge@cma.gov.uk)
Last updated 31 May 2019 + show all updates
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A non-confidential version of the infringement decision has been published.
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Final infringement decision update.
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Case page updated with Settlement and Statement of Objections.
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Timetable update published.
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Timetable updated.
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Timetable updated.
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First published.