Decision comes as competition body prepares to publish full details of specific infringements
The Office of Fair Trading has made a £300,000 reduction on the fines it imposed on three contractors under its bid-rigging investigation, it revealed today.
The body said it had reduced the fines imposed upon R Durtnell & Sons, E. Manton and Wildgoose Construction because it had used incorrect turnover figures to calculate the levels of their fine.
The admission came as the OFT prepared to publish further details of the specific allegations against the 103 construction firms. The full detailed case document is set to run to 2,000 pages and was due to be posted on the OFT website at 11.00 this morning, but was still not visible at midday.
The decision will outline the detailed evidence and findings on each infringement, representations made by the construction companies and details of the OFT's calculation of the fines. Some confidential information will not be included in the published version of the decision.
Julia Evans, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders, said: “The case relates to an historic practice which was widespread at the time of these contracts but had largely died out before the OFT began its investigation. The industry has dramatically improved its procedures since then to be fully compliant with competition law.”
More details to come…
