NI firm FP McCann set to appeal £25m fine for price fixing

A CO Londonderry building products firm has said it intends to “robustly appeal” a fine of more than £25m from the competition watchdog for taking part in an illegal price-fixing cartel.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said FP McCann, based in Magherafelt, broke competition law by working with Stanton Bonna Concrete and the CPM Group to fix prices for almost seven years.

The regulator said the companies, which supply concrete building products, illegally shared competitively sensitive information and worked together to allocate customers.

The watchdog added the businesses kept prices artificially high as part of an arrangement that cheated customers out of getting the best deal.

FP McCann confirmed it had been notified of the penalty, which came after the conclusion of a six-year investigation into draining products.

A spokesman said: “FP McCann complied fully with the investigation, but it has been notified that the firm and two other companies have been found to have broken the law.

“FP McCann has been levied with a fine of £25m. The company is very disappointed with the

Fine: FP McCann boss Eoin McCann

decision and will be robustly appealing it.

“FP McCann is committed to compliance with the competition law and serving the interests of its customers.”

The business, which employs approximately 1,600 people, refused to comment on whether the financial penalty would have an effect on jobs.

Between July 2006 and March 2013, senior executives from each of the firms took part in meetings to co-ordinate prices, a number of which were recorded by the CMA.

FP McCann was hit with a fine of more than £25m for its part in the cartel after refusing to accept it had rigged prices.

Derbyshire-based Stanton Bonna and Somerset-based CPM were fined £7m and £4m respectively. Their penalties were smaller because they accepted responsibility.

All three firms produce concrete products used in roads and water management projects, such as drainage pipes.

At the time of the infringement, the companies were leaders in the sector and supplied major construction firms.

Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said the fines were justified.

“These companies entered into illegal arrangements where they secretly shared out the market for important building products and agreed to keep prices artificially high,” he added.

“This is totally unacceptable because it cheats customers out of getting a good deal.

“The CMA will not hesitate to issue appropriately large fines in these cases. We will continue to crack down on cartels in the construction sector and in other industries.”

The fines were issued amid the CMA’s Stop The Cartels campaign, which is designed to educate businesses about illegal trading practices.

According to the latest available accounts, turnover at FP McCann climbed by 22% to reach £254.5m last year.

The company also made a pretax profit of £18m, down 10% from £20m in 2017.