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Doug Gurr, former head of Amazon in the UK, has been appointed chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority.
David M. Bennett | Fake images for Amazon
LONDON – Britain’s competition regulator has named a top former Amazon executive as its new chairman after facing accusations from Prime Minister Keir Starmer of stifling growth.
The Competition and Markets Authority announced On Tuesday evening, Doug Gurr, who was previously country manager of Amazon UK and president of Amazon China, would take over as interim president, replacing Marcus Bokkerink.
The move follows a meeting between CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell and other regulators, with British finance minister Rachel Reeves to present ideas on how to stimulate growth. Regulators were asked to “tear down barriers that hinder business and refocus their efforts on promoting growth.”
Cardell thanked Bokkerink for his leadership since taking over as president in 2022, telling CNBC on Wednesday: “He has tirelessly advocated for consumers, competition and a level playing field for businesses, as well as being firmly committed to openness and stakeholder engagement across the UK.
“The CMA has a critical role to play in supporting the government’s growth mission. I welcome the appointment of Doug Gurr as the new acting chair of the CMA and look forward to working closely with him as we drive growth, opportunity and prosperity for the United Kingdom,” he said. added via emailed comments.
The government wants to see regulators like the CMA “supercharging the economy with business-friendly decisions that drive prosperity and growth, putting more money in people’s pockets,” the Kingdom’s Trade and Business Minister said in a statement. Joined, Jonathan Reynolds.
Reeves said the decision to replace Bokkerink was made because the CMA needed to be led by someone who shared the government’s “strategic direction.”
“He recognized that it was time to move on and make way for someone who shares the mission and the strategic direction that this government is taking,” he said, speaking at a Bloomberg event Wednesday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. , Swiss.
Push to take growth “seriously”
Last year, Prime Minister Starmer told investors he wanted to ensure that “all regulators in this country – especially our economic and competition regulators – take growth as seriously as this room does”, suggesting a dissatisfaction with the work of the CMA.
The UK has faced broader criticism from technology executives and investors for a series of regulatory decisions, including an intervention in Microsoft take control of the video game publisher Activision Blizzard and its decision to force goal Facebook for divest Giphy GIF database.
“The announcement of the new CMA chair cannot be purely coincidental as it comes at the same time as the UK Government is beating the drum of its growth agenda and holding regulators to account for their own policies to stimulate growth,” said Alex Haffner, competition partner at Fladgate.
“Mr. Gurr has been appointed on an interim basis, suggesting that this is not succession planning but rather a reaction to current events. His background is also unashamedly commercial, unlike his predecessor’s consultancy.” Haffner added.
Gurr’s appointment as CMA chair comes after the regulator was given new powers to regulate big tech companies under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act (DMCC), which seeks to prevent anti-competitive behavior in the digital markets.
You can designate large companies that have a significant amount of market power in a given digital activity as having “strategic market status.” The CMA now has the power to impose changes to prevent potential anti-competitive behavior by any company granted strategic market status.
