The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated the deal between LN-Gaiety Holdings Limited – a joint venture between Live Nation and Gaiety Investments Unlimited Company – and MCD Productions.

The LN-Gaiety joint venture owns and operates live music venues and festivals in the UK and Ireland, while MCD is primarily a promoter of live music events on the island of Ireland.

After completing an initial Phase 1 investigation, the CMA was concerned that the deal could damage competition in live music promotion in Northern Ireland, as Live Nation could hinder MCD’s rival promoters’ ability to sell tickets through its subsidiary Ticketmaster. This led to the deal being referred for an in-depth Phase 2 probe. The CMA then announced in November that it had provisionally found the deal should be cleared. Having consulted on this provisional finding, the CMA has now confirmed the merger has been cleared.

The CMA found that the merger is not likely to raise competition concerns as Live Nation would not be expected to have the incentive to harm rival music promoters by making it harder for them to sell tickets through Ticketmaster.

For more information, visit the LN-Gaiety Holdings / MCD Productions merger inquiry page.

Published 19 December 2019

The Duchess of Cornwall will attend commemorations in Poland to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Her Royal Highness will attend a service at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp on Monday 27th January 2020, International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Approximately 200 Auschwitz and Holocaust survivors from the United Kingdom and several other European countries, the United States, Canada, Israel and Australia will take part in the service.

This will be The Duchess of Cornwall’s third official visit to Poland, having previously visited with The Prince of Wales in 2008 and 2010.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended the National Holocaust Memorial Day service in London in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Their Royal Highnesses met survivors of the Holocaust and of subsequent genocides.

In 2016, The Duchess of Cornwall visited The Holocaust Survivors Centre, London, and met with survivors supported by the centre and Jewish Care.

• With further wet weather expected, Environment Agency and the AA urge drivers to stay away from flood water this winter.
• Watery Gate Lane in Leicester revealed as the top flood rescue hotspot in the country, with locations in Nottinghamshire, Essex and London also making the top 10.
• Just 1 in 4 drivers (24%) would find another route to avoid driving through flood water, despite the risk to life.
• Women and young drivers more likely to turn around and find another route.

Three quarters of drivers (74%) would risk driving through flood water, despite it being the leading cause of death during a flood[1]. This is according to latest research highlighted by the Environment Agency and the AA as they join forces to urge drivers to keep themselves and their passengers safe from the potentially devastating risks of flood water.

Driving through flood water is the number one cause of death during flooding, however the research shows motorists are still willing to take the risk. Just 30cm of moving water is enough to float a car, and by driving through flood water, drivers open themselves up to the risk of being swept away and having to be rescued or getting stranded after their car engine takes in water and stops. During recent flooding in November, three people were rescued from the roof of a car in Devon after getting trapped in fast flowing flood water which reached the windows of their car[2], and a woman in Doncaster was rescued by the fire service from a submerged car[3]. By opting to re-route their journey to avoid flood-affected areas, drivers can avoid risking their own or someone else’s life as well as damage to their vehicle.

Alarmingly, nearly 1 in 4 (23%) of drivers said they are most likely to gauge whether they can drive through flood water on the visibility of the kerbs, whilst 12% would wait and see if someone else braves the flood water first and then follow them.

The survey carried out by the AA also found that: * Women are 32% more likely to turn around and go the other way when faced with a submerged road than men (22% of men said they would, compared to 29% of women). * Women are 50% more likely to let someone else go through the water first, with 15% saying they would wait and see if anyone else drives through and follow them compared to 10% of men. * Despite Leicester being the top place for flood related breakdowns in England, those in the East Midlands are the most likely to turn back if the road was flooded with one in three (30%) saying they would, compared to 21% of those in the South East. * Young drivers (18-24 year olds) are more sensible than older drivers, as 27% would turn back at floodwater, as opposed to 24% of those aged 45+

Caroline Douglass Director, Incident Management and Resilience, Environment Agency said: “It is concerning that so many drivers are willing to risk their own life and the lives of others by driving through flood water.

“Our message is clear – surface water flooding it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car. Never drive through flood water. Turn around and find another route.”

Ben Sheridan, AA Patrol of the Year, said, “Don’t chance it if the road ahead is flooded – flood water can be deceptively deep and can hide other hazards in the road which can leave you stranded.

“Trying to drive through flood water puts you and your passengers at risk, but it can also cause damage to your car. It only takes an egg-cupful of water to wreck your engine and on many cars, the engine’s air intake is low down at the front.”

The AA has released the top ten places for breakdowns due to flood water between 2014 and 2018:

• Watery Gate Lane, Leicester, Leicestershire 88
• Rufford Lane, Newark, Nottinghamshire 71
• Houndsfield Lane, Hollywood, Birmingham, Worcestershire 49
• Furnace Grange Road, Trescott, Wolverhampton 37
• Riverside, Eynsford, Dartford, Kent 35
• Buttsbury, Ingatestone, Essex 32
• Green Road, Birmingham, Worcestershire 30
• Tanners Lane, Winterbourne Earls, Salisbury, Wiltshire 28
• Riverside / The Embankment, Twickenham, London 28
• Hawkswood Lane, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire 27

The Legend Alliance Ltd was incorporated in January 2010 with Jason Gambling (48), from Basingstoke, as its sole director. The company provided telecommunications consultancy services.

Between February and May 2016, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) received complaints from members of the public who had received unwanted direct marketing calls from telephone numbers associated with The Legend Alliance.

The ICO informed The Legend Alliance that it was under investigation in January 2017. The agency found that the telephone numbers associated with the company had made in excess of 21 million unsolicited calls for direct marketing purposes in that 4-month period.

When challenged by the ICO, The Legend Alliance was unable to provide evidence that it had obtained permission from the 21 million recipients to contact them, in breach of Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

The company had also failed to declare itself in its calls to the public as the party making the call.

In February 2017, The Legend Alliance entered into Voluntary Liquidation proceedings, owing almost £200,000 to creditors and the ICO referred Jason Gambling’s conduct to the Insolvency Service.

On 19 November 2019, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Jason Gambling after he did not dispute breaching the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Effective from 10 December 2019, he cannot, without the permission of the court, be involved in the formation, promotion or management of a company, directly or indirectly, for 7 years.

Claire Entwistle, Assistant Director of Investigations for the Insolvency Service, said:

Despite extensive experience in the telecommunications industry, Jason Gambling allowed his company to be party to 21 million marketing calls over a 4-month period, to people who did not want to receive them.

Directors of companies who breach regulations that exist to protect members of the public should take heed that the Insolvency Service will investigate them, and they may be disqualified from running companies for a substantial amount of time.

Jason Gambling is from Basingstoke and his date of birth is July 1971.

The Legend Alliance Ltd (Company Reg no. 07120317).

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

We have published Energy Trends and Energy Prices today (19 December 2019), which provide new data for the third quarter of 2019 (July to September).

Energy Trends covers statistics on energy production and consumption, in total and by fuel, and provides an analysis of the year on year changes.

Energy Prices covers prices to domestic and industrial consumers, prices of oil products, and comparisons of international fuel prices.

PDF, 562KB, 15 pages

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email enquiries@beis.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Published 19 December 2019