Press release

CMA board visits Bristol and Cardiff

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is holding its board meeting in Wales, after a meeting of South West business leaders in Bristol.

Competition and Markets Authority logo

Board members will take part in roundtable discussions with business leaders and representative groups in Bristol on 19 October, before a reception in Cardiff attended by Cabinet Secretary Ken Skates, with the board meeting in the city the following day.

The roundtable discussions will include subjects such as:

  • Which local markets have issues that the CMA may be interested in?
  • Are there threats to effective competition in the South West region?
  • How can the CMA help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)?

On its visits the board will be able to discuss subjects including the impact of the energy and retail banking market investigations, which produced their final reports in June and August, and the progress of its legal services and digital comparison tools market studies.

The CMA will also be encouraging greater awareness of competition and consumer law – over the past month it has written to law firms in both the South West and Wales asking them to help promote new easy-to-understand videos and guides to their small business clients.

David Currie, CMA Chairman, said:

It is important that markets work well for people and businesses right across the UK, and that vigorous competition helps fuel economic growth.

I am very much looking forward to hearing the views of South West business leaders about the opportunities and risks they see and in what ways the CMA can help them.

And I am pleased that the board is again able to meet in Cardiff and listen closely to the views of Welsh consumer groups, business representatives, regulators, political leaders, and others.

Notes for editors

  1. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law.

  2. For more information on the CMA see our homepage or follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Flickr and LinkedIn.

  3. Enquiries should be directed to Simon Belgard (simon.belgard@cma.gsi.gov.uk, 020 3738 6472).

Published 19 October 2016