Doug Gurr, the former head of Amazon UK, has been appointed chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority.
David M. Bennett | Getty Images for Amazon
LONDON – Britain’s competition regulator appointed a former top Amazon executive as its new chairman after facing accusations from Prime Minister Keir Starmer of stifling growth.
The Competition and Markets Authority announced late Tuesday that Doug Gurr, who was previously country manager for Amazon UK and president of Amazon China, would serve as its interim chairman, replacing Marcus Bokkerink.
The move follows a meeting between CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell and other regulators with British finance minister Rachel Reeves to brainstorm how to stimulate growth. Regulators were told to “tear down barriers that hinder business and refocus their efforts on fostering growth.”
Cardell thanked Bokkerink for his leadership since taking on the role of chairman in 2022, telling CNBC on Wednesday: “He has tirelessly advocated for consumers, competition and a level playing field for business, as well as being steadfast sustainably towards openness and engagement of stakeholders 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 interim chairman of the CMA and look forward to working closely with him as we drive growth, opportunity and prosperity for UK,” she. added via emailed comments.
The government wants to see regulators like the CMA “charge the economy with pro-business decisions that will drive prosperity and growth, putting more money in people’s pockets,” UK Business and Trade Minister Jonathan said in a statement. 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 realized it was time for him to move on and make way for someone who shares the mission and the strategic direction this government is taking,” she said, speaking at a Bloomberg event on Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Economic Forum World Cup in Davos. , Switzerland.
Rush to take growth ‘seriously’
Last year, Prime Minister Starmer told investors he wanted to make sure “every regulator in this country – especially our economic and competition regulators – take growth as seriously as this chamber”, suggesting dissatisfaction with the CMA’s work.
The UK has faced wider criticism from tech executives and investors over a series of regulatory decisions, including an intervention in of Microsoft takeover of video game publisher Activision Blizzard and its decision to force of Meta Facebook will remove Giphy’s GIF database.
“The announcement of the CMA’s new chairman cannot be a pure coincidence, coming at the same time as the UK government is drumming up its growth agenda and holding regulators to account for its policies them for stimulating growth,” he said. Alex Haffner, a competition partner at Fladgate.
“Mr Gurr has been appointed on an interim basis suggesting this is less about succession planning and more a reaction to current events. His track record is also unashamedly commercial compared to consulting his predecessor, Haffner added.
Gurr’s appointment as chairman of the CMA comes after the regulator was given new powers to regulate big tech firms under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act (DMCC), which aims to prevent anti-competitive behavior in digital markets.
It may designate large companies that have a significant amount of market power in a particular digital activity as having “Strategic Market Status.” The CMA now has the power to impose changes to prevent potential anti-competitive behavior by any firm granted Strategic Market Status.