Growth & Investment Council meeting minutes: November 2025
Published 11 December 2025
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Meeting date: 4 November 2025
Venue: In the Cabot, London, and by videoconference
CMA board members present
- Sarah Cardell (Chair), Chief Executive Officer
- Doug Gurr, Interim Chair
Attendees present
- Joel Bamford, Executive Director, Mergers
- Julia Hoggett CEO, London Stock Exchange
- Irene Graham, CEO, ScaleUp Institute
- Michael Moore, CEO, British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
- Julian David, CEO, techUK
- Martin McTague, Chair, Federation of Small Businesses
- Rupert Soames, Chair, Confederation of Business Industry
- Bob Wigley, Chair, UK Finance
- Jonny Haseldine (online), (Deputising for Baroness Martha Lane Fox), Head of Corporate Governance and Business Environment Policy, British Chambers of Commerce
- Dom Hallas (online), Executive Director, Startup Coalition
- Graham Wynn (online), (Deputising for Helen Dickinson), Assistant Director, British Retail Consortium
CMA observers
- Anthony Wright, Senior Director of Communication and Engagement
- Vlada Aikman, Director of Stakeholder Engagement
- Trixxy Just, Strategy, Complaints and Enquiries Manager
Apologies
- Carolyn Dawson, CEO, Founders Forum Group
Agenda
1. Welcome, introductions, and opening remarks by the Chair
The Chair welcomed Council Members and CMA colleagues, thanked participants for their ongoing engagement, and outlined the agenda. The Chair highlighted the Council’s role in shaping the CMA’s approach to supporting growth and investment, and encouraged open discussion on the key themes.
2. Investment and competition
The CMA presented findings from its recent investment literature review and scale-ups discussion paper, outlining the challenges faced by companies at different stages of investment and the links between international trade, mergers and acquisitions, and capital creation.
Procurement was identified as a significant barrier for scale-ups and smaller businesses. Council Members noted that public contracts often favour larger, established companies and that complex procurement processes can deter smaller firms from participating. The Council discussed the need for government procurement to focus on long-term economic benefit and value for money, whilst considering international approaches that could help level the playing field.
The changing landscape of start-up funding was also discussed. Council Members observed that access to working capital has become more challenging since 2008, with lenders less willing to lend to smaller firms. The importance of alternative funding sources, such as venture capital and government-backed schemes, was highlighted.
The CMA was encouraged to continue reviewing procurement practices and competition policy to ensure they support innovation and enable new entrants with a focus on IS-8 sectors such as defence and life sciences. The Council discussed how mergers and acquisitions can help UK firms scale globally, and the interaction with merger control policy which remains essential to safeguard the benefits of effective competition for businesses and consumers.
3. Beneficial collaborations
The CMA provided an update on its work to support pro-growth industry collaboration within competition law, including recent guidance for the higher education sector and the activities of the sustainability taskforce.
The importance of the CMA acting as both the enabler and an enforcer was discussed. Council Members welcomed the CMA’s proactive approach and suggested further steps to raise awareness of available support.
4. Mergers remedies review
The CMA updated the Council on its ongoing review of merger remedies, highlighting recent guidance and increased engagement with business leaders. Council Members welcomed the changes and emphasised the value of sharing positive experiences to encourage broader engagement with the remedies process. It was suggested that the CMA could produce a year-in-review to showcase the impact of the mergers charter and encourage broader engagement with the remedies process.
The stakeholder engagement that the CMA has undertaken with a range of audiences including, businesses, investors and advisor was discussed with suggestions for further outreach as the CMA continues to embed the 4Ps in merger investigations.
5. Chair’s summary and close
The Chair thanked all participants for their contributions and summarised the key themes of the meeting. Members reflected on the positive impact of the Council and confirmed that the Council will continue to meet quarterly in 2026 to drive progress on its priorities.
The Chair closed the meeting.