Price fixing advice on a confidential basis
First published by Author on July 27, 2018 in the following categories: Price Fixing Price Hikes Pricing and tagged with price fixing | pricing
If you need Price fixing advice on a confidential basis, we can advise you, and we may be able to assist you with legal action as well.
Many instances of competition law infringements are highlighted by investigations conducted by the UK’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), or where a whistle-blower from an organisation involved in something like price fixing comes forward and confesses the activity to regulators.
But what about the traders and small businesses who are in need of price fixing advice as a victim of it themselves?
Need price fixing advice having spotted it from your suppliers?
If you need price fixing advice having spotted it from your suppliers, you can contact our team for confidential advice.
It can sometimes be hard to spot.
If you find that you’ve been with the same suppliers for years because no one else is able to tender a cheaper or better deal, it may be the case that price fixing and market sharing is taking place. It could be that suppliers are fixing their prices and dividing up the market to make sure you never find a better price.
Sometimes, it can be easier to spot by comparing prices far away from yourself in the event the price fixing is a more local problem. It’s not always easy to tell, but there are ways and means of finding out whether it’s happening to you, and the prices your own competitors pay, as well as other businesses local but not too close to your area, could also be an indicator.
Need price fixing advice because you’re being told to fix your prices?
You may need price fixing advice because you’re being told to fix your own prices by a supplier. They may be telling you to fix your prices at or above a certain level, and it may be the case that they’re doing this to keep their own prices high by stifling competition at the point of business-to-consumer sale.
One thing you can of course do is report the issue to the CMA, which we can help you with, but you may be damaged directly if they pull the supply of the product from you where you refuse to comply (i.e. demand you fix your prices or face losing their supply to you). We don’t need to tell you that, depending on how much of the product you sell, you could be set to lose customers and revenue yourself.
Price fixing can be common
There have been loads of CMA investigations over price fixing, from pharmaceutical price fixing to price fixing in the estate agent market.
Price fixing advice for businesses who find themselves potentially caught up in it, or losing out as a result of it, is a service we offer, where we believe we may able to pursue a damages claim against those responsible.
If this applies to you, please don’t hesitate to contact our team for assistance.