CMA asks regional firms to help combat ignorance of competition law

East Midlands lawyers will be asked to promote awareness of competition law to their business clients, after it was found that companies in the region were largely ignorant of the rules governing anti-competitive practices.

Over 120 law firms are being contacted by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and asked to share information on competition law with their small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients.

Research from the authority found that just 3 per cent of East Midlands businesses have had training on competition law compared to the national average of 6 per cent.

Meanwhile, only 38 per cent of businesses in the region were aware that bid-rigging is illegal, as opposed to 47 per cent nationally.

While just under a third of all UK companies know that setting the price at which others can resell a product is illegal, only one in five businesses in the East Midlands were aware to the danger.

The research also noted that only 6 per cent of businesses know that admitting to participation in a cartel can lead to immunity from a penalty. The national average is 15 per cent.

The CMA has commissioned further research which revealed that most small businesses have a shared ethical sense that certain practices, such as price-fixing, are wrong.

Ann Pope, the authority's senior director of antitrust enforcement, said: 'The potential consequences of breaking the law are very serious. That is why it is important that all businesses know what to look out for and report suspected breaches to the CMA.

'Legal advisers to SMEs are ideally placed to help raise awareness of competition law among their clients.'

Meanwhile, Isabel Taylor, chair of the competition section at the Law Society, said that regional firms can 'play an important role in explaining to their clients why they need to know about competition law'.

Firms headquartered in the West Midlands have already been raising the understanding of law, after the CMA found the regional knowledge on competition law was low.