Co-op has 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 Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the convenience chain, which has almost 2,400 stores across the UK, 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 and potentially impacting consumer choice.
The CMA noted that it was concerned that the substantial number of breaches demonstrated a significant failure of compliance for a business of Co-op’s size. Having already addressed 104 agreements, Co-op has also agreed to resolve the remaining three.
“Restrictive agreements by our leading retailers affect competition between supermarkets and impact shoppers trying to get the best deals,” said Daniel Turnbull, Senior Director of Markets at the CMA.
“We know that Co-op has made a considerable effort to amend all their unlawful agreements, given this Order has been in place since 2010. Co-op and the other designated retailers must make sure they do the right thing by their customers in the future.”
The latest action is part of a targeted programme of activity by the CMA to enforce the Order’s rules and follows similar breaches by Tesco in 2020 (23 breaches); Waitrose in 2022 (7 breaches); Sainsbury’s (18 breaches); Asda (14 breaches) in 2023; Morrisons (55 breaches); and Marks & Spencer (10 breaches) in 2023.
A spokesperson for Co-op said: “This is a matter we take very seriously, and we have taken all necessary action to ensure this issue is resolved and does not happen again.”
NAM Implications:
- Given the appreciable disparity between Co-op…
- …and its rivals in terms of number of breaches…
- …it is probable that future applications by the Co-op will be given greater scrutiny (i.e. delays).
