GovWire

Case timetable

Change log

The following changes have been made to the case timetable since it was first published in March 2019:

Director disqualification undertakings

25 May 2023: The CMA has secured the disqualification of a further director involved in the unlawful conduct. Nicholas Brown (current director of Brown and Mason) has been disqualified for a period of 7 years.

23 March 2023: The CMA has secured the disqualification of 3 directors of companies involved in the unlawful conduct. These are Mr David Darsey (formerly a director of Erith) for a period of 5 years and 10 months from 2 February 2023, Mr Michael Cantillon (formerly a director of Cantillon) for 7 years and 6 months and Paul Cluskey (current director of Cantillon) for 4 years and 6 months.

Find out more on the Supply of construction services director disqualification case page.

Infringement decision

23 March 2023: The CMA has issued a decision finding 10 suppliers of demolition and asbestos services breached competition law by taking part in bid rigging, in the form of cover bidding.

Fines totalling almost 60 million have been imposed on:

• Brown and Mason Group Ltd (Brown and Mason)
• Cantillon Ltd, Cantillon Holdings Ltd (together Cantillon)
• Clifford Devlin Ltd (Clifford Devlin)
• DSM Demolition Ltd, DSM SFG Group Holdings Ltd, Nobel Midco Ltd, Nobel Topco Ltd (together DSM)
• Erith Contractors Ltd, Erith Holdings Ltd (together Erith)
• John F Hunt Ltd, John F Hunt Group Ltd (together John F Hunt)
• Keltbray Ltd, Keltbray Holdings Ltd (together Keltbray)
• McGee Group (Holdings) Ltd, MFCOIL Ltd (together McGee)
• T. E. Scudder Ltd, P.J. Carey Plant Hire (Oval) Ltd, Carey Group Ltd (together Scudder)
• Squibb Group Ltd

Brown and Mason, Cantillon, Clifford Devlin, DSM, John F Hunt, Keltbray, McGee and Scudder were handed reduced fines as settling parties who had admitted their involvement in the cartel activity. McGees and Scudders penalties also include a discount under the CMAs Leniency programme.

• Press release: Construction firms fined nearly 60 million for breaking competition law by bid rigging (23.3.23)

Statement of Objections and settlement

24 June 2022: On 23 June 2022, the CMA issued a statement of objections provisionally finding that 10 suppliers of demolition and removal of asbestos services breached competition law by taking part in bid rigging, in the form of cover bidding. The statement is addressed to Brown and Mason Group Limited (as economic successor to the company directly involved in the infringement, Brown and Mason Limited (Brown and Mason)); Cantillon Limited (Cantillon), and its parent company, Cantillon Holdings Limited; Clifford Devlin Limited (Clifford Devlin); DSM Demolition Limited (DSM) and its parent companies, DSM SFG Group Holdings Limited Nobel Midco Limited and Nobel Topco Limited; Erith Contractors Limited (Erith) and its parent company Erith Holdings Limited; John F Hunt Limited (John F Hunt) and its parent company John F Hunt Group Limited; Keltbray Limited (Keltbray) and Keltbray Holdings Limited (as economic successor to Keltbrays parent company Keltbray Group (Holdings) Limited); McGee Group (Holdings) Limited (McGee) and its parent company MFCOIL Limited; T. E. Scudder Limited (Scudder), P.J. Carey Plant Hire (Oval) Limited and Scudders parent company, Carey Group Limited; and Squibb Group Limited (Squibb)

Eight of the firms Brown and Mason; Cantillon; Clifford Devlin; DSM; John F Hunt; Keltbray; McGee and Scudder have admitted their participation in the alleged bid rigging and agreed to pay fines under the CMAs settlement policy. Provided they comply with the terms of the settlement, any fines of the settling firms will be discounted to reflect the resource savings to the CMA generated by the firms admissions and their cooperation with the CMAs investigation. The final level of any fines will be decided by a new case decision group, in accordance with the CMAs administrative process.

Scudder and McGee also reported their involvement in the conduct under the CMAs leniency policy and will also benefit from a leniency discount on any fines, provided they continue to co-operate and comply with the other conditions of the CMAs leniency policy.

The CMAs investigation into 2 further companies, Erith Contractors Limited and Squibb Group Limited continues and no assumption should be made that they have infringed the law.

• Press release: CMA provisionally finds illegal cartels in construction industry (24.6.22)

Case information

The investigation concerns suspected infringements of Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98).

This case is at an early stage and no assumption should be made 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 addressees of that statement of objections with an opportunity to make written and oral representations. Find more information in the CMAs 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.

Contacts

Investigation Team Leader

Padraig Sheerin, padraig.sheerin@cma.gov.uk

Assistant Project Directors

Richard Brown, richard.brown@cma.gov.uk

Laila Benfaida, laila.benfaida@cma.gov.uk

Project Directors

Emma Lindsay, emma.lindsay@cma.gov.uk

Sean McNabb , sean.mcnabb@cma.gov.uk

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