Author Archives: HM Government

In January, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) consulted on raising the threshold for markets where mergers might not warrant investigation.

The CMA has a duty to refer mergers for an in-depth, phase 2 investigation if they could lead to a substantial lessening of competition (SLC). However, in certain circumstances it may not refer a merger, such as if it believes the relevant market is of insufficient importance.

The exception to the duty to refer is designed to avoid investigations where the costs involved would be disproportionate to the size of the market concerned. It enables the CMA to reduce the burden on companies and better target its resources for protecting consumers and businesses. The CMA can choose not to apply this exception (see notes).

After receiving support for its proposed changes, the CMA will now raise the figure for markets generally considered as sufficiently important to warrant a merger reference from above £10 million to above £15 million. It will also change the figure for markets generally considered not sufficiently important to warrant a merger reference from below £3 million to below £5 million.

Where the size of the market is between these figures, the CMA will continue to assess whether the expected harm resulting from the merger would be materially greater than the cost of an investigation.

It is expected that the changes will reduce the number of mergers that are subject to investigations – including those subject to initial phase 1 examination.

Further details including the new guidance and a summary of the responses received are available on the consultation page.

Notes

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. The current guidance was issued by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in 2010 and adopted by the CMA in 2015.
3. The exception is not available in relation to any market or markets if the CMA believes that merging parties could in principle offer a solution to the CMA’s concerns via undertakings in lieu of a reference. The CMA will also take account of the wider implications of its decisions in this area, and will be less likely to exercise its discretion, and therefore more likely to refer, where the merger is potentially replicable across a number of similar markets in a particular sector.
4. Enquiries should be directed to press@cma.gsi.gov.uk or 020 3738 6798.
5. For information on the CMA see our homepage, or follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Facebook, Flickr and LinkedIn.

The Forum is the trade association for companies operating in the aerospace and defence sectors in Wales and exists to provide the best service it can in promoting its members’ companies and capabilities, providing access to events, networking opportunities and industry expertise. DECA is a full member of this Forum.

Rachael Blackburn, the newly appointed Operations Director for the Aerospace Wales Forum, opened the meeting agenda that included a question and answer session from the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates AM as well as presentations from Dickie Davies, Deputy Director Welsh Government, Rhodri Evans, Price Waterhouse Cooper and Colin Sirett, CEO Advanced Manufacturing and Research Centre

Geraint Spearing, DECA’s Chief Executive also gave a presentation and capability overview to the Forum saying,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to DECA. Through events like this we are committed to developing partnerships and engagement with as many companies as possible. This also allows us to increase DECA involvement within the wider community and welcoming you all here today is a great step towards these goals.

Winning the F-35 assignment is tremendous news and has provided a new lease of life for DECA; a lot of our work involves the repair, maintenance, overhaul and upgrade of legacy equipment and F-35 provides us with an exciting next chapter to continue our long history.

Dickie Davies presented details of the current opportunities for Welsh Government funding saying,

We are here for you and to support and sustain business in Wales and the UK going forward and we are working to deliver an outstanding package of support. Three years ago, if I had said that we would have Aston Martin at St Athan employing 700 people you would have laughed and so would I, but we are actually there and we are growing.

Rhodri Evan, Cyber Security Lead at Price Waterhouse Cooper gave an interesting presentation on the importance of cyber security within industry. He detailed the impact of attacks and their effect, to not only business operations, but also how an attack can seriously affect the supply chain. Rhodri also detailed the new levels of cyber security protection that businesses will have to comply with.

Following on from the speakers, Ken Skates, Assembly Member, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, National Assembly for Wales held a Q&A session taking questions about rail and road infrastructure, apprentice schemes, trade tariffs, the devaluation of the pound, research and development investment and the implications of Brexit. He spoke to the forum saying,

I am pleased to be with you all here today. We are inevitably proud of our aerospace industry and the announcements of job creation in Wales. Wales as a whole is building on a very strong foundation and we are keen to make sure we find common ground to take advantage of and ensure that Welsh strategy dovetails with the UK’s industrial strategy and the great news of F-35 assignment for DECA. It gives me great pleasure to work with you and I am looking forward to the future.

The businesses, which all have an innovation that can benefit the environment, went on an Clean + Cool Mission this week (10 to 17 June 2017).

The mission is backed by Innovate UK and Long Run Works. It supports early-stage, high-potential companies to connect with opportunities through being part of an organised programme. This means they are able to explore cross-border opportunities and find faster routes to their target market.

Innovative UK SMEs

All of the businesses were selected to take part by a panel of judges. The panel was made up of representatives from Clean + Cool, Innovate UK, Department for International Trade, Knowledge Transfer Network, Greenhouse PR, PwC, Silicon Valley Bank, Volans, Whitefox Technologies and Women in Cleantech & Sustainability.

Businesses on the mission include:

• Aceleron, which produces low-cost remanufactured battery packs from used lithium ion batteries
• Arborea, whose carbon bio-converter ‘bionic leaf’ tiles enable photosynthesis to happen in the built environment
• Bowman Power Group, a provider of electric turbo compounding technology, that improves the efficiency of gas and diesel-fueled engines in industrial stationary power generation
• BuffaloGrid, which gives people in off-grid locations the ability to charge their phones and access internet services through remote solar-powered hubs
• Cellular Agriculture, a company looking to change how protein is produced for food consumption through tissue engineering technology
• CCell, which has pioneered a wave energy, delivering more power while weighing less. Potential users include sea-water desalination plants and remote inhabited islands dependent on diesel generated electricity.
• Gravitricity, which is developing grid-scale energy storage system that uses gravitational potential to store electricity
• Green Fuels, the biodiesel equipment manufacturer that converts waste oils and fats into biofuels, such as jet fuel
• H2GO Power, a University of Cambridge spin-out that uses solid-state, controllable hydrogen storage and generation for fuel cells
• Hexigone Inhibitors, which is developing environmentally-responsive organic and metallic coatings that are protected from degradation
• Kelda Technology, whose digital shower system improves water efficiency to use 50% less water
• Meteor Power, which is developing a new electric, high-performance motorcycle
• Perpetual V2G Systems, producing power systems that harvest energy from vehicles that would be otherwise lost and store it onboard to be used later
• Rotaheat, which has pioneered compact technology that converts mechanical rotational energy to heat fluids at over 120C
• SEaB Energy, whose patented anaerobic digestion systems in shipping containers generate clean energy from organic waste
• Senergy, which designs and manufactures integrated polymer solar thermal panels. It is now part of Lloyd’s Register
• SOMI Trailers, using a novel truck trailer design to to utilise the space underneath and carry 31% extra pallets
• Stickyworld, a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform to collect and sort ideas, consult on proposals or engage and educate different stakeholder groups
• Tevva Motors, which has developed electric range-extended vehicles that lower emissions and operational costs
• Topolytics, which combines mapping, machine learning and geospatial analytics to make industrial waste visible, verifiable and valuable

Connecting innovators

Ian Meikle, Director – Infrastructure Systems, Innovate UK says:

Clean + Cool is a great example of the role Innovate UK plays in connecting innovators with the right partners they need to succeed. The Mission tackles the human challenges to innovation, helping early stage CEOs grow their ambition, profile and network, while improving their pitch and insight.

Engineering success

This is the sixth Clean + Cool mission. Previous missions have resulted in success, including UK engineering company Whitefox Technologies.

Through 2 missions to San Francisco and Brazil, they were able to make connections and gain knowledge of the biofuels industry and legislation in the US. This led to them pitching their solutions to US biofuel producer Pacific Ethanol. They now have a commercial deal, and are receiving interest from other companies in North America and Europe.

Doctors across Europe can now learn more about the importance of reporting suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) via a free e-learning module.

Prompt reporting helps make medicines safer and is part of a doctor’s responsibility. This includes informing patients and carers how they can help by reporting suspected side effects themselves.

Regulators like the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) rely on the reporting of suspected ADRs to make sure medicines on the market are acceptably safe. However, all reporting systems suffer from underreporting, and training healthcare professionals to report suspected ADRs is important to both raise awareness and help strengthen the system.

The e-learning module has now received the highest order of accreditation from the European Accreditation Council for CME (EACCME®). This means doctors are awarded 1 EACCME credit upon completion of the 45 minute ADR e-learning module.

The ADR e-learning module was created by the Strengthening Collaboration for Operating Pharmacovigilance in Europe (SCOPE) Joint Action project.

A survey conducted by SCOPE found many European countries lacked sustainable educational materials about ADR reporting. This e-learning aims to support healthcare professionals and medicines regulators by providing clear guidance which is rewarded with CME/CPD points.

Mick Foy, group manager for MHRA’s Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines division said:

The key aim of our work is to make sure medicines are effective and acceptably safe. The reporting of suspected ADRs is vital in helping us achieve this aim.

Doctors are critical to this as their position on the front line of care means they are often the first to recognise an adverse drug reaction.

We’ve created this e-learning module help doctors so they can have confidence that their reports are making a difference.

All healthcare professionals, and indeed patients themselves, can help make medicines safer by reporting any suspected side effects easily and quickly through our Yellow Card Scheme online or via the mobile app. Other countries collect reports in similar methods.

Notes to Editor

1. The e-learning module is hosted on the SCOPE website. Learners are asked to complete a short survey upon completion of the e-learning.
2. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe. All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks. MHRA is a centre of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency which also includes the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health.
3. National reporting systems for the collection of suspected adverse drug reactions (commonly known as side effects) have acted as early warning systems to help identify numerous important safety issues, many of which were not recognised as being related to a particular medicine until reports were received by medicines regulators www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard
4. The SCOPE Joint Action project aims to support EU member states in the operation of their pharmacovigilance systems which help safeguard public health. It is funded through contributions from European Commission and the involved Member States.
5. The SCOPE Joint Action project social media campaign to raise awareness levels of national ADR reporting systems is being taken forward through the Heads of Medicines Agencies Working Group for Communications Professionals.
6. The European Union of Medical Specialists (Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes – UEMS) is a non-governmental organisation representing national associations of medical specialists in the European Union and in associated countries. Current membership includes 37 countries.