Practice areas

We adopt a commercial and pragmatic approach, delivering practical and tailored advice to a wide range of clients on all aspects of competition law. We have been involved in some of the most ground-breaking cases that have shaped the way in which competition law is enforced in the UK today. We brought the first ever challenge to an Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") merger clearance decision which, contrary to many commentators' predictions at the time, was successful and led the OFT to change its approach to assessing mergers. We were also instrumental in securing the first ever intervention by the Secretary of State in a media case (BSkyB/ITV) for the benefit of our client, Virgin.

Our "can do" attitude and ability to find innovative solutions to complex issues enables us to help our clients achieve their business objectives, even in the most difficult cases. By persuading the OFT not to pursue cases of alleged anti-competitive behaviour against Reebok and Woolworths, we ensured that our clients - unlike others - were not fined in cartel cases. On the merger front, our tactics and approach have helped clients to avoid in-depth probes in cases leading to high market shares - in one case over 90 per cent.

The application of competition law requires a detailed understanding of each client's business and the markets in which they operate. We will invest the necessary time and effort to get to know your business and help you to advance your interests whether you are, on the one hand, directly involved in mergers or under investigation by competition authorities or, on the other, seeking to disrupt mergers or complain about the conduct of third parties.