When Marcus Bockerink got his phone on Monday evening in January he did not know he would dedicate his job.
Gareth Davies, a permanent secretary at the Business Department, informed him that a statement would be issued the next day, saying that Bokkerink had resigned as chairman of the UK competition regulator. His replacement would be the former Amazon chief in the UK Doug Gurr. Did not appear as optional.
After months of disappointing the government with the authority of competition and markets not to do enough to support the growth, the ministers had decided that it was time to take action, according to people with knowledge of the incident.
While the telephone call was happening, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds was on the plane to Davos to parade the government’s pro-growth credentials before the major technology and financial services companies, according to an ally.
Bokkerink’s defension was the A exhibition, created to “turn their heads” and “get people’s attention” for the government’s willingness to intervene, an official with events said. “If you talked to business leaders, you will know that they all thought that it took a long time (and) was confused with decisions.”
After getting down on the phone, a surprised boxerink called a video board meeting with video. During the following hours, some members offered to resign in protest over what they saw like the government’s Thuggish tactics, two people with knowledge of events said.
After all, after nearly 24 hours of discussion, Bokkerink decided it was best for the agency to accept and leave.
CMA, Bockerink and the Department of Business and Trade everyone refused to comment on the details of the incident.
Bokkerink’s departure followed months of increasing pressure from Sir Keir Starmer’s government after trying to approximate the widespread state weapons with its central mission to begin economic growth.
The first sign that the CMA was in the government’s chairs came in October when Starmer told the leaders gathered for the International Investment Summit in the United Kingdom that “we will make sure every regulator in this country, especially our economic and competition regulators, Take growth as serious as this room does. “
Bockerink was in the room, located between leaders from the alphabet and Brookfield.
Weeks later, another Salvo arrived in the form of a letter from Reynolds and Chancellor Rachel Reeves sent to the eve of Christmas that asked the main regulators to present five pro-growth initiatives to increase business confidence.
CMA’s response three weeks later repeating what was in the recent annual plan of the agency was seen as “especially disappointing,” one official said. “Jonny and Rachel wrote all the regulators before Christmas. CMA of all of them did not read the task properly. “
The government was also unhappy that the agency had published its response, irritating the control of ministers on narrative, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Bokkerink’s removal came a few days later.
As the ministers are already tightening the brakes at the agency. This week the government published its “strategic direction” that determines its expectations for the leadership and advantages of CMA. The previous repetition from November 2023 contained passages that emphasize the “strong and independent voice” of the agency. The section was significantly lost by this week’s mission.
What was included were guidelines that the regulator should “unclearly reflect the need to increase the UK attraction as a destination for international investment”.
The Business Department showed a speech from Reynolds on Thursday announcing the leader, in which he said the government “believes in effective, independent institutions”.
Gurr, the new interim chairman who is expected to become permanent, insisted this week that the group would still protect consumers despite its changed concentration.
But it is clear that ministers want the next chapter of CMA to be less aggressive.
“The regulatory pendulum tends to swing back and on the years,” said Tom Smith, a former CMA legal director who is now a partner partner partner.
“For a long time, the competition authorities rarely intervene. Then they began to intervene more often to pay off to allow agreements. . . This led to excessive market power, “he added.” Now the pendulum is shaken again. ”
Gurr told FT that the agency was not making “no changes to the bases, the basic mission, the objectives, but I would not understand how influential the quality of the process is.”
The regulator has pledged to accelerate CMA union investigations – the focus of many business business – shortening its union notice periods and time limits for direct agreements significantly.
The former Amazon executive has had direct experience in the CMA union process during the teaching giant’s clash with the regulator on its Dreamoo minority investments, which was finally cleaned in 2020.
Gurr has stressed that there is no conflict of interest with his former employer, whom he left four years ago.
Beyond the attention that the agency’s union activity attracts, CMA is also trying to put the organizational headache behind it.
On the same week as Bockerink was dropped, it turned out that the antitrust regulator was in the process of trying to cut staff numbers by 10 percent after a “budget error”. The mistake was revealed last summer. Some people who were involved in supervision are no longer in agency, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
CMA has also spoken to the government for years if some of its less essential business units have to stay under its umbrella, according to people with knowledge of discussions.
These include the subsidy council unit, which monitors how subsidies are given by public authorities, and the role of CMA as an appeal body for other regulators such as OFWAT, people said.
Gurr said it was “After all, a government issue of how they decide to structure and create regulators ”but any such changes had not been at the center of conversations over the past three weeks.
CMA is however in a difficult place. While the chief executive Sarah Caredell has been in pain to show that the agency is taking the government’s growth mandate seriously, the regulator has just received new powers under the regime of digital markets to capture areas where high technology prevails, such as research Internet.
The defense counsel announced investigations under the new legislation last month on Google and Apple. An independent CMA panel has recommended a similar investigation into the Amazon.
The government said in its new direction this week that CMA should use its new powers “flexibly” and “to unlock opportunities for growth throughout the United Kingdom”.
“I approached (from the government) and had two very simple questions, “Gurr recalled.
