CMA upholds £2.6m water tank cartel fine

The tanks are designed for water storage in commercial and industrial sites, and are also used to supply the water in fire sprinkler systems.

The charge was originally brought in March this year, with a formal statement of objections announced in May. All three companies agreed to pay the fines, which they are now obliged to do.

A fourth company, CST Industries (UK) – and its parent company CST Industries Inc. – has been granted immunity under the CMA’s leniency policy, and will face no charge.

“Any company that is approached to join a cartel, or become involved in anti-competitive arrangements, should immediately reject the approach clearly and unequivocally,” said Stephen Blake, senior director of the CMA’s Cartels and Criminal Group.

“It should also decline to participate in any discussions that involve the sharing of confidential and competitively sensitive pricing information,” he added.

The companies and their fines are as follows: £2,015,135 for Franklin Hodge Industries and its parent company Carter Thermal Industries; £587,926 for Galglass and its parent companies Irish Industrial Tanks and Kernoff; and £22,248 for KW Supplies (as economic successor to Kondea Water Supplies).

In a separate decision, the CMA has also found that Franklin Hodge Industries, Galglass, KW Supplies and Balmoral Tanks breached competition law by exchanging information regarding their current pricing and future pricing intentions.

Balmoral Tanks, as well as its parent company Balmoral Group Holdings, was therefore fined £130,000, the CMA said.