CMA forces Waitrose to re-write anti-competitive land deals

Waitrose has agreed to rewrite several property deals that blocked other supermarkets from opening nearby following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The supermarket has admitted to a total of seven breaches of the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order 2010 between 2010 and 2019 after the CMA took a closer look at how supermarkets were competing.

The Order was brought in by the CMA to ensure supermarkets cannot use restrictive terms to prevent rivals from opening stores.

At the CMA’s request, Waitrose has reviewed all its land agreements and found that seven of these were not compliant with the Order.

These breaches concerned land agreements around seven Waitrose stores in Bromsgrove, Rustington, Swindon, Daventry, Chester, Notting Hill Gate and Market Harborough.

“It’s disappointing that Waitrose has acted against the interests of shoppers, despite these rules having been in place for over 10 years,” commented Adam Land, Senior Director of Remedies at the CMA.

“Families across the UK are facing the rising cost of living. Preventing other supermarkets from opening new stores could stop people saving on their weekly shop.

“Waitrose is now putting this right so that everyone gets a fair deal. We will continue to take action when our rules are broken, and we have asked all supermarkets to show us their land deals comply with the Order.”

The announcement follows similar changes from Tesco in 2020 after the CMA found it had breached the same rules 23 times.