Construction cartel directors disqualified as Derbyshire firm admits involvement

A Derbyshire firm which supplies pre-cast concrete drainage products has admitted being part of a three-way cartel that secretly fixed prices for almost seven years.

Stanton Bonna turned over £27.7m in 2017, but made a loss of almost £4m. It employs around 170 people at its Ilkeston headquarters.

The company was part of an alleged cartel that included Somerset-based CPM Group and FP McCann of Northern Ireland. Stanton Bonna and CPM have admitted to participating in the alleged cartel and have agreed to pay fines, which will be determined at the end of the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) investigation. The CMA’s investigation into a third company which has not entered into settlement, FP McCann, continues.

A statement from the CMA said: “Mr Philip Michael Stacey and Mr Robert James Taylor Smillie were directors at CPM throughout the period of the alleged cartel activity, during which time the company was one of the leading players in the market. The CMA has secured legally binding undertakings from these former directors, which disqualify them as directors and prevent them from being involved in the management of any company based in England, Scotland and Wales.

“Mr Stacey has been disqualified for seven years and six months, and Mr Smillie has been disqualified for six years and six months.”

Investigations are ongoing with respect to other directors and FP McCann.

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