{"id":252215,"date":"2025-03-05T12:23:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T12:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/05\/co-op-admits-unlawfully-blocking-100-rival-store-openings\/"},"modified":"2025-03-05T12:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T12:23:14","slug":"co-op-admits-unlawfully-blocking-100-rival-store-openings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/05\/co-op-admits-unlawfully-blocking-100-rival-store-openings\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-op admits unlawfully blocking 100 rival store openings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Co-op<\/div>


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Jennifer Meierhans<\/span><\/p>\n

Business reporter, BBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Co-opCo-op<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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The Co-op has admitted to unlawfully blocking more than 100 rival supermarkets from opening branches near to its stores.<\/p>\n

The UK’s competition watchdog found Co-op had breached an order which limits supermarkets’ ability to prevent nearby land being used by rival retailers.<\/p>\n

Blocking other grocers from opening nearby hits competition between supermarkets and means shoppers have less choice when trying to get cheaper prices, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Co-op, said: “This is a matter we take very seriously, and we have taken all necessary action to ensure this issue is resolved and does not happen again.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Co-op admitted 107 breaches of the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order 2010. It has re-written 104 agreements and agreed to resolve three others, the CMA said. It released a list of the 107 locations.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Co-op’s spokesperson added: “As a business that is committed to operating fairly, we recognise this is extremely disappointing.” <\/p>\n

The Co-op owns almost 2,400 stores across the UK and holds a 5.2% market share in the UK’s \u00a3190.9bn supermarket industry, according to the CMA.<\/p>\n

The chain said the number of breaches amounted to “less than 2% of transactions” across its property portfolio, which includes its supermarkets and funeral directors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Many of the UK’s biggest supermarkets have also breached the land order in recent years, but not to the extent that Co-op was found to in the CMA’s latest action.<\/p>\n