The marketing department at Beachcroft Wansbroughs recently received a phone call from a consultancy company keen to hook up with the firm on a joint venture generating healthcare work. The consultant was informed by a Beachcrofts marketing person that he would need to speak with the firm's senior partner Lord Hunt of Wirrall. “Lord Hunt?” the consultant exclaimed. “That must set the firm in good stead for health work,” he continued, numerous possibilities opening up before his eyes. At which point, the rather amused marketing person pointed out that the firm's senior partner was actually too busy to be moonlighting as the minister of health.
OFT repeats £1.3m fine for predatory pricing
At the second attempt, the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) made its first decision on predatory pricing under the 1998 Competition Act. A four-year tug-of-war between the OFT and Aberdeen Journals, a division of the Daily Mail and General Trust Group, has returned an identical result to an earlier decision, fining Aberdeen Journals £1.3m. […]