Wide angle view directly up in the skyline of the financial district in central London

Fair play: How competition policy can drive growth

Article

The UK’s competition framework — and its regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority — has struggled to prevent rising market concentration and stagnant productivity. 

At the same time, the UK economy is suffering from chronic low investment, and firms have increasingly cited uncertainty around competition enforcement as an issue. While competition policy has historically been framed as a technocratic tool, it is in fact a cornerstone of shared, equitable growth. 

The CMA has a huge role in ensuring markets work for citizens, workers, startups, and wider prosperity, not just dominant incumbents. The Labour government must seize this moment to redefine competition policy as a proactive force for economic renewal, aligning it with missions to boost productivity, rebalance regional disparities, and safeguard democratic accountability. 

In this briefing paper we set out the case for an unwavering and robust competition policy, enforced by a more responsive regulator, which works to boost inward UK investment, aligned to industrial and trade policy goals.

Related items

  1. A busy high street in Kingston-upon-Thames, London. Shoppers walking beneath multi-coloured bunting

    Bricks vs clicks: The case for an online sales tax

    It's time to rethink how we tax retail.
  2. A close up photo of a bricklayer smoothing cement between a layer of red bricks

    Beyond boom and bust: The supply case for social housing

    How the government can use social housing to unlock housing supply and demand.
  3. Man Writing Code on Desktop Computer With Multiple Monitors Set Up and a Laptop in Creative Office

    Bottleneck Britain: How digital competition could power UK growth and sovereignty

    Artificial intelligence could be the UK’s biggest economic opportunity in a generation, but only if its gains are spread across the economy rather than pooled within a handful of companies.