Euro Car Parts bought most of Andrew Page in October 2016, after the company went into administration. Both companies sell car parts and components to independent garages and workshops and to larger national or multi-regional customers, including repair centre chains, vehicle fleets and roadside assistance companies.

A group of independent panel members at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has investigated the merger. The group identified 10 local areas in England where the 2 companies were close competitors and where the merger could result in reduced competition for local customers, leading to higher prices or a lower quality of service.

The group did not consider that national or multi-regional customers would be adversely affected by the merger.

Professor Alasdair Smith, Inquiry Chair, said:

Andrew Page was in administration and would have closed down if a purchaser had not been found. The only 2 other purchasers would have bought a much smaller number of depots. We think that in most markets the merger will not further reduce competition compared to the alternative.

However, in 10 local areas we are concerned that a reduction in competition could lead to higher prices and a lower quality of service.

In addition to the summary of provisional findings and the provisional findings report, a notice of possible remedies has been issued today, which outlines the measures the CMA could take if it still believes the merger would reduce competition when it makes its final decision. This identifies that competition could be maintained if Euro Car Parts sells depots in the 10 affected areas.

Anyone wishing to respond to the notice of possible remedies should do so in writing by no later than 28 September 2017. Anyone wishing to respond to the provisional findings should do so in writing, by no later than 5 October 2017.

Please email eurocarparts/andrewpage@cma.gsi.gov.uk or write to:

As set out in the administrative timetable for this inquiry, the CMA’s final report will be published by the statutory deadline on 5 November 2017.

Notes for editors

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 summary of provisional findings can be found on the case page. The CMA is required to publish its final decision by 5 November 2017.

3. On 10 March 2017 the CMA started its initial investigation and on 22 May 2017 the CMA referred it for a phase 2 investigation.

4. All the CMA’s functions in phase 2 merger inquiries are performed by independent inquiry groups, chosen from the CMA’s panel members, and supported by CMA staff. The appointed inquiry group are the decision-makers on phase 2 inquiries.

5. The members of the inquiry group are: Professor Alasdair Smith (Inquiry Chair), Lesley Ainsworth and Rosalind Hedley-Miller.

6. The CMA’s panel members come from a variety of backgrounds, including economics, law, accountancy and/or business; the membership of an inquiry group usually reflects a mix of expertise and experience.

7. The 10 local areas, which the group identified are Blackpool, Brighton, Gloucester, Liphook, Scunthorpe, Sunderland, Swindon, Wakefield, Worthing and York.

8. For more information on the CMA see our homepage or follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Facebook, Flickr and LinkedIn. Sign up to our email alerts to receive updates on merger cases.

9. Media enquiries should be directed to: press@cma.gsi.gov.uk, 020 3738 6191.

This follows a ‘phase 1’ investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the deal.

As part of its examination, the CMA sought the views of a number of sector experts, including other organisers of live music events and industry bodies, as well as festival goers. A survey was sent to several thousand customers of the Isle of Wight festival to gain insight into what drives their choice between different festivals (or other activities, such as going to a concert or on holiday).

The evidence collected indicates that the Isle of Wight festival and Live Nation’s existing festivals were not competing particularly closely for customers. After the merger, people will continue to be able to choose between festivals owned by Live Nation and a variety of competing festivals. The fact that festival goers also choose between going to a festival and other activities will also ensure that Live Nation continues to face sufficient competition.

Following concerns raised by third parties, the CMA also investigated whether the merger would enable Live Nation to stop rival organisers of live music events (both festivals and concerts) from being able to book the range and quality of artists that they need to provide a competitive proposition. However, the evidence indicates that the merger will not materially strengthen Live Nation’s position in booking artists, and that a sufficient range and quality of artists will continue to be available for rival organisers of live music events.

The merger will therefore not be referred for an in-depth phase 2 investigation.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that holiday pay should take into account commission if individuals were entitled to commission as part of their employment contract (called ‘contractual commission’).

This decision affects everyone who has ever applied for and received holiday pay from us.

If you have previously received holiday pay from the Insolvency Service you may be eligible for an additional payment related to the contractual commission you were owed by past employer.

This decision does not affect any other payments you received from the Insolvency Service.

If you applied for payment after 31 July 2011

You don’t need to do anything yet.

The Insolvency Service will soon be contacting you directly about how to apply for an additional payment if:

• you applied for and received holiday pay from us from August 2011 onwards
• you indicated on your application that you were entitled to contractual commission

If you applied for payment before 1 August 2011

You need to contact the Insolvency Service to apply for an additional payment if:

• you applied for and received holiday pay from us before August 2011
• you indicated on your application that you were entitled to contractual commission

In order for us to determine if you are eligible, we need some supporting evidence from you. So, when you contact us please include copies of the following documents:

• Your contract of employment with your employer at the time (or other evidence relating to that contract)
• Evidence of the commission you usually earned or evidence of the commission you earned in the 12 weeks prior to the date of insolvency

Without this evidence we will not be able to determine if you are eligible for an additional payment.

Who isn’t eligible

You are not eligible for an additional payment if:

• we rejected your application for payment and you did not receive any money from the Insolvency Service.
• you did not receive a payment for holiday pay from the Insolvency Service

Please do not contact us if either of the above applies to you or if you do not have the supporting documentation. We will be unable to re-assess your claim without this.

Contacting us

If you would like us to check whether you are eligible for an additional payment, please email or post us your documents 21 September 2017.

Email address: redundancy.payments@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

Postal address:

If you are unable to send us the necessary documents before 21 September 2017 please contact us as soon as possible to let us know on 0330 331 0020.

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a new statutory inquiry into Fadak Media Broadcasts, registered charity number 1165143. The investigation was opened on 24 August 2017.

The charity has objects to advance the Islamic religion, to advance the education of the public in the Islamic religion, and to promote religious harmony.

On 4 August 2017 the Commission received a serious incident report from the charity in regards to suspicion of significant unauthorised payments from within the charity. The report has raised serious regulatory concerns about the management and administration of the charity, and whether the trustees have sufficient oversight of the charity’s finances.

An inquiry has therefore been opened to assess whether:

• the trustees have exercised sufficient oversight and control of the charity’s assets and whether there is any ongoing risk to charitable assets

• the trustees are capable of discharging their legal duties and responsibilities in relation to the financial and general governance of the charity, including oversight of the charity’s staff

• there has been any misappropriation of the charity’s assets and if so whether it is in the interest of the charity to pursue restitution

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.

The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online charity search tool
3. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.

Investment consultants advise many pension funds on investment strategies, asset allocation and fund manager selection. As well as giving advice, some investment consultants also manage investments on behalf of the pension scheme (“fiduciary management”). A number of investment consultants also advise employers on the design of pensions and operate them via in-house “master trust” arrangements.

Following its recent market study into the asset management sector, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has concluded that it has reasonable grounds to suspect there are features of the sector which prevent, restrict or distort competition.

The FCA estimates that the 12 largest investment consultants advise on around £1.6 trillion of assets. They found:

• signs that the buyers of investment consultancy may not be best placed to judge quality or value for money of the service they receive

• evidence of the biggest firms holding a large share of the market

• barriers to expansion restricting smaller, newer consultants from developing their business

• some potential conflicts of interest relating to the other services offered by a number of firms

The FCA has now referred investment consultancy and fiduciary management services in the UK for examination by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA’s independent investigation will determine whether there are any adverse effects on competition in this sector. If any are found, it will decide whether – and if so, what – remedial action should be taken to address these.

During its investigation, the CMA will gather a large amount of information on the market, including running a bespoke market survey. It will engage with key participants and it will undertake significant economic analysis before coming to its conclusions.

Requests for information have today been sent to the main companies involved to allow this work to begin. An issues statement setting out the proposed focus of the investigation and potential remedies – in the event that an adverse effect on competition is found – will also be published shortly, and all responses to this will be welcomed.

Information on how any organisation or individual can submit their views, together with supporting evidence, to the CMA can be found on the case page.

The CMA will shortly appoint independent panel members to the Group and publish a timetable setting out a schedule for the various stages of the investigation. The appointed Group act as the decision makers and are chosen from the CMA’s panel members, who come from a variety of backgrounds, including economics, law, accountancy and/or business.

The CMA will conclude the investigation by March 2019.