Transparency data

CMA Growth and Investment Council meeting minutes: 28 January 2025

Published 7 March 2025

Meeting date: 28 January 2025

Venue: In the Cabot, London, and by videoconference

CMA board members present

• Sarah Cardell (Chair), Chief Executive Officer
• Doug Gurr, Interim Chair

Advisors present

• Jessica Lennard, Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer

Attendees present

• Jordan Cummins, Interim Chief Policy and Campaigns Officer, Confederation of Business Industry
• Baroness Martha Lane Fox, President, British Chambers of Commerce
• Dom Hallas, Executive Director, Startup Coalition
• Irene Graham, CEO, ScaleUp Institute
• Ellie Steel, Group Operations Director, Founders Forum Group 
• Graham Wynn (online), Assistant Director for Consumer, E-Commerce and Regulatory Affairs, British Retail Consortium 
• Martin McTague, Chair, Federation of Small Businesses 
• Michael Moore, CEO, British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association
• Bob Wigley, Chair, UK Finance  
• Julian David (online), CEO, techUK
• Ruben Peralta Silverstone (online), Chief of staff, LSE

CMA observers

• Vlada Aikman, Director of Stakeholder Engagement
• Trixxy Just, Strategy, Complaints and Enquiries Manager
• Chris Davies, Senior Private Secretary to CEO

Key themes

The following key themes have been identified from this meeting:

Theme 1

Strong support for CMA using the Council to contribute to development and implementation of Industrial Strategy with a sector-focused approach to identify blockers and opportunities to enhance competition, innovation and investment.

• prioritise enabling growth within sectors captured within the Industrial Strategy

  • prioritise advanced manufacturing, life sciences, clean energy industries, digital and technology, and financial services

• explore cross-cutting themes or enablers affecting these sectors

  • prioritise public procurement, interoperability and data as areas of focus

Theme 2

Support for the CMA’s continued focus and rapid progress around improving business and investor engagement and ways of working to build business and investor confidence in the regime.

• progress 4Ps at pace, starting with mergers then potentially going broader
• shore up business confidence by building understanding of the CMA within the private investment sector
• deepen CMA understanding of the dynamics of private investment
• progress thinking on opportunities to leverage external expertise to enhance CMA work

Theme 3

Use the Council to explore the international dimension of the CMA’s work including: the business and investor perspective of the UK regime relative to international peers; the CMA’s role in supporting the UK’s relative attractiveness to investment; supporting opportunities for scaling up of UK businesses to compete effectively on a global basis whilst ensuring effective competition benefits UK consumers.

• international benchmarking: the perception and positioning of the UK competition regime relative to its international counterparts
• building scale in the UK to compete globally
• building scale with a sectoral focus

Theme 4

Supporting small businesses and consumer protection as part of the growth mission whilst avoiding regulatory uncertainty.

• stakeholder engagement with small businesses to improve their understanding of how the CMA works and how best to engage with the CMA
• a focus on tangible outcomes, underpinned by proportionate guidance that businesses and consumers understand whilst avoiding regulatory uncertainty

Minutes

1. Welcome, introductions, and opening remarks by the Chair

The Chair introduced the session, welcoming members and setting out the role the Council can play in supporting the growth mission. The Chair also confirmed that the Council will aim to generate real outcomes and outputs, including recommendations for government.

2. Growth and Investment Council Terms of Reference sign off

The Council agreed with the draft Terms of Reference, highlighting in particular the importance of operating in an open and transparent manner. This includes sharing key discussion points with the Government and making them available publicly.

3. Growth and Investment Council outputs discussion

The Council discussed the following potential outcomes:

• an improved understanding of how CMA’s work is benchmarked internationally and how it contributes to the UK economy’s international competitiveness. This also includes a consideration of how CMA timetables align to international regulators, including where they come ‘out of sequence’ with other investigations
• CMA’s 4Ps (pace, predictability, proportionality and process) as a cornerstone in providing certainty and streamlining process – not just across mergers but in relation to all CMA work
• enhanced opportunities for scaling up of UK business to compete effectively on a global scale whilst ensuring sufficient protection for domestic customers.
• CMA to be in a position to access greater external expertise
• a sector-based approach for CMA’s prioritisation of work on the Industrial Strategy, starting with the sectors identified as priorities
• continued stakeholder engagement with businesses to improve their understanding of how the CMA works and how best to engage with the CMA
• a focus on outcomes, underpinned by proportionate guidance that businesses and consumers understand

4. CMA Draft Annual Plan 2025 to 2026

The Chair outlined key areas of focus for the CMA, as per the draft Annual Plan 2025 to 2026 and highlighted that the 4Ps contained within the Annual Plan are a perspective of how the CMA has evolved as an organisation. In addition, the Chair noted the CMA’s ambition to step up its direct engagement with businesses and develop a participative approach to regulation, especially with the digital markets competition regime in place.

The Council were supportive of and recognised the importance of a participative approach, ensuring there are open channels of communication for businesses to contact CMA and vice versa. The Council also noted that it is important for the CMA to have clear guidance on its website to allow businesses and investors an easy access to the information that is most relevant to them.

The Council discussed that the business and consumer confidence is low and reiterated the need for the CMA to think long term about its plan. A positive, long-term vision with the key areas of focus can help businesses and consumers build their confidence.

5. The Chair’s closing remarks

The Chair thanked the Council members for the discussion and noted that at the next meeting the Council will discuss what outputs and outcomes to prioritise for delivery this year. The Chair closed the meeting.