Contractors respond to OFT decision

22nd Sep 2009 07:44

Engineering and construction contractor Balfour Beatty has moved to limit the fall-out from the Office of Fair Trading's decision to fine it, along with other builders, for price fixing.The company's Mansell subsidiary has been fined £5.2m by the Office for Fair Trading (OFT) for breaches of competition law that occurred before Balfour Beatty owned the company.Balfour Beatty said it co-operated fully with OFT throughout the four year investigation and also carried out its own 'thorough and detailed audit of all its businesses to ensure that it is fully compliant with all aspects of competition law.'The company has implemented a training programme to ensure all of its employees are fully aware of the law and its intent.A similar tune is being sung by Carillion, which said its Carillion JM unit was fined £5.4m for activities that took place when the unit was an independent company, trading as Mowlem plc.'The OFT's enquiries in relation to Mowlem related to certain matters that arose prior to Carillion's acquisition of the company and the decision does not involve any other business within the Carillion group,' the company said in statement.Galliford Try confirmed that it has been fined £8.33m, payable in instalments over three years, in respect of three incidences of cover pricing that occurred between the years 2001 to 2004. It said the incidences took place in building businesses in England that have either since been closed down or restructured.