Co-op admits unlawful land deals blocking rival supermarkets
The Competition and Markets Authority said it was concerned by the ‘very large number of breaches’ by the supermarket chain.
Co-op is rewriting more than 100 unlawful land agreements that prevent rival supermarkets from opening stores nearby, after the UK’s competition regulator found it breached rules in locations across the country.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was concerned by the “very large number of breaches” by the supermarket chain.
Rules that have been in force since 2010 stop large grocery retailers imposing land restrictions that prevent rivals opening competing stores in the local area.
The CMA has taken action against other supermarkets in recent years, including Tesco for 23 breaches, Sainsbury’s for 18, and Morrisons for 55.
Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket, ran into trouble with the watchdog in 2020 for leaning on its landlords not to rent nearby sites to rivals for up to a decade.
And in 2022 Waitrose admitted it signed deals with landlords to prevent new stores being opened on the same block.
The number of restrictive agreements that Co-op had in place, in towns and cities across the UK, demonstrates “significant failures in compliance for a business of Co-op’s size, resources and standing”, the regulator said.
Co-op has already addressed 104 of the agreements, and has agreed to resolve the remaining three.
Daniel Turnbull, senior director of markets at the CMA, said: “Restrictive agreements by our leading retailers affect competition between supermarkets and impact shoppers trying to get the best deals.
“We know that Co-op has made a considerable effort to amend all their unlawful agreements, given this order has been in place since 2010.
“Co-op and the other designated retailers must make sure they do the right thing by their customers in the future.”
A spokesperson for Co-op said: “As a business that is committed to operating fairly, we recognise this is extremely disappointing.
“Co-op operates in a range of markets, both as a community retailer and a national funeral provider and the number of breaches amount to less than 2% of transactions across our entire property portfolio.
“This is a matter we take very seriously, and we have taken all necessary action to ensure this issue is resolved and does not happen again.”
