Ten roofers guilty of collusive tendering

Ten roofing contractors have been fined a total of £560,000 after being found guilty by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) of collusive tendering over flat roofing services in the North East and Scotland.
The fines, reduced from £830,000 after a number of companies pleaded for leniency, were ordered after the firms (see box) had agreed to fix the prices, and in some cases to share markets, for their work.
All parties were found to have been involved in a series of individual agreements and concerted practices in tendering for the contracts between 2000 and 2002 in breach of the Competition Act 1998.
In the North East, the contracts affected were for felt and single-ply flat roofing services, and related to schools, a college, a number of telephone exchanges and a business park unit.
In Scotland, the contracts were for mastic asphalt flat roofing services and related to diverse contracts, including a school, tele-vision studios, a town hall, a supermarket and a lighthouse.
The OFT concluded that the parties' collusion in setting tender prices and allocating contracts between themselves was intended to restrict or distort competition and meant that buyers were unable to obtain competitive prices.
Last year nine roofing contractors in the West Midlands were fined a total of £330,000 for price fixing.