Cartel dangers in Welsh public sector procurement – what you need to know

A one hour event for public sector officials in Wales delivered by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Bid rigging, where two or more rival companies secretly agree that one of them will win a contract during a tender process, is a type of cartel conduct.  It can artificially increase contract costs by 20% on average, tricking procurers into thinking that the prices and bids submitted are a result of genuine competition when in reality they’re being ripped off.  At the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition watchdog, we’ve come down hard on businesses caught doing this.

Cartels can occur in any sector but are especially prevalent in markets where there are a small number of big suppliers and where suppliers have close knit and complex cross supply relationships.  In construction, for example we issued fines of £67m across five separate cartel cases and we have also recently announced provisional findings in a further bid-rigging case in the construction sector.

As part of the CMA’s advocacy work on cartels, we have been engaging with public sector procurers to specifically highlight the risk of bid-rigging. We have conducted a significant number of presentations to public procurement teams aimed at helping procurers gain an awareness of why bid-rigging is harmful, know what kinds of activities and patterns of behaviour they should watch out for, and what they can do to mitigate risks and how best to report suspect activity. We will deliver a presentation that will lift the lid on these cases and others that have affected public spend, drawing out lessons learnt and signposting to free CMA advice and support for procurement professionals in Wales.  We have a growing office in Wales strengthening our team here and helping ensure we deliver greater impact in Wales.

We have also a range of materials on our website, including a free e-learning training module, short explanatory videos on cartel activity and guides for procurers on bid-rigging risks which can be accessed on the ‘Public Procurement’ page of our ‘Cheating or Competing’ campaign.

Please note: Microsoft teams meeting invite will be sent out separately ahead of the event