Competition law prevents businesses from monopolising markets and restricting trade within the UK and EU. Breaches can have serious consequences for businesses, and it’s an area of law they can’t afford not to get to grips with.  That's why we provide expert solicitors specialising in competition laws.

There are two main anti-competitive activities caught by UK and EU legislation. The first is anti-competitive agreements. These are agreements which, for example:

• fix purchase or sale prices
• set quotas or output levels
• apply different conditions to the same kind of transaction, adversely affecting other traders.

The second anti-competitive activity to be avoided is abuse of a dominant market position. This is where a business takes unfair advantage of its share of the market by, for example:

• being discriminatory or excessive in its pricing
• putting in place unfair trading terms
• tying customers in by insisting that, if they buy one product, they must buy others.

A business found to have breached competition law can be fined up to 10% of its group’s global turnover. The relevant agreement could be declared unenforceable and the business risks having to pay damages to customers and competitors affected by the breach. There are personal consequences too, with company directors facing disqualification and criminal prosecution.

Competition Law Solicitors

Our commerce and technology lawyers help businesses understand how competition law affects the way in which they work now, and how they might work in the future. Our team audits business’ agreements, practices and procedures looking out for any actual or potential breaches. They also work with organisations to put in place policies to help minimise the risk of falling foul of the legislation in the future.

Some businesses simply disregard competition law. For others looking to grow and gain commercial advantages, their breach of the law may be inadvertent. Getting our lawyers involved at an early stage can stop things getting out of hand.

Please contact us to discuss how our expert commerce and technology solicitors can help you.