LONDON, March 23, 2026 — Britain’s competition regulator is set to focus its enforcement work over the coming year on consumer harm in essential spending areas, anti-competitive conduct in growth sectors, bid-rigging in public procurement and competition risks in digital markets, under its new annual implementation plan.
The Competition and Markets Authority said the plan is the first detailed roadmap under its 2026-2029 strategy, which links competition and consumer protection more explicitly to economic growth and household prosperity.
On the competition side, the CMA signalled that cartel and abuse of dominance cases will remain central, particularly where conduct blocks innovative firms from entering or scaling in strategically important markets. It said it would actively target anti-competitive behaviour in key growth sectors, while also stepping up efforts to support legitimate business collaboration, especially in industrial strategy sectors and in environmental sustainability agreements.
A major enforcement priority will be public procurement. The CMA warned that bid-rigging can inflate public contract prices by 20% or more and said it would expand the use of AI and data science tools to detect suspicious bidding patterns at scale. That focus dovetails with the UK’s new procurement debarment regime, under which cartel participants can be excluded from future public tenders for up to five years.
The authority also highlighted algorithmic collusion as an emerging risk. It said it would continue scanning markets for unlawful coordination facilitated by pricing software and other digital tools, while offering guidance to businesses on how to stay within the law when using algorithmic pricing systems.
Consumer protection is also being elevated as a front-line enforcement priority under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. The CMA said it would maintain a strategic approach to the new regime by combining guidance for businesses with tough enforcement in areas where consumer harm is most acute and the law is clear.
Its priority targets include aggressive sales tactics aimed at vulnerable consumers, objectively false information, fake reviews, hidden fees and unfair contract terms, including unfair exit charges. The regulator said it is already progressing its first investigations under the new regime, focused on price transparency and misleading online choice architecture in sectors ranging from ticketing to homeware and fitness.
Essential spending remains a particular concern. The CMA said it would continue prioritising markets that affect strained household budgets, building on recent work in areas such as infant formula, veterinary services and road fuel. It also noted that continued instability in the Middle East could intensify cost-of-living pressures, requiring a rapid response to harmful practices.
In markets work, the regulator said it would continue intervening in consumer-facing sectors and is pressing ahead with a market study into private dentistry, alongside implementation of remedies in veterinary services. It also plans to complete its civil engineering market study with recommendations to government aimed at improving how major projects are planned, procured and regulated.
Digital markets remain another major enforcement front. Following its first Strategic Market Status designations covering Google search and Apple and Google mobile platforms, the CMA said it will move into tailored interventions intended to improve competition while limiting unnecessary burdens on the firms concerned.
In search, the regulator’s early priorities include fairer treatment for publishers in Google’s AI-generated search features, fair and transparent ranking rules, search choice screens and better data portability. In mobile, the focus will be on app distribution terms, app review processes, interoperability, mobile browsers and access for competing digital wallet and connected device providers.
The CMA said it will also consider whether to launch further Strategic Market Status investigations before the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Merger control will remain highly selective but robust. The authority said it would continue focusing on deals that have the potential to raise UK competition concerns, while seeking to avoid duplication where remedies or reviews by other regulators may address the issues. It reiterated that every merger capable of unconditional clearance or effective remedies should be cleared, and said revised guidance would widen the scope for behavioural remedies in some cases.
A recurring theme across the plan is the regulator’s “4Ps” framework — pace, predictability, proportionality and process — which is meant to make enforcement quicker, more transparent and less burdensome without weakening outcomes. That could mean greater use of warning letters, advisory letters, settlements and commitments where these can deliver faster behaviour change without sacrificing deterrence.
More broadly, the CMA is also positioning itself as a pro-competition adviser to government. Beyond formal enforcement, it plans to push for regulatory reforms that support scale-ups, more competitive public procurement and lower barriers to innovation and investment.
Taken together, the plan suggests the CMA will not step back from enforcement, but will try to deploy it more strategically: concentrating on high-impact consumer harms, anti-competitive conduct that stifles innovation or growth, and digital and procurement risks with economy-wide implications.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-annual-plan-2026-to-2027/annual-plan-2026-to-2027
