Explanatory note

This Order amends the Anti-Competitive Practices (Exclusions) Order 1980. That Order excludes from being an anti-competitive practice under the Competition Act 1980 the course of conduct of any person (not being a local authority) whose turnover in the United Kingdom is less than £5 million, whose share of the relevant market is less than one quarter, and which is not a member of a group of interconnected bodies corporate with an annual turnover in the United Kingdom of £5 million or more or which enjoys more than one quarter of the relevant market.

The effect of the amendment is to increase the turnover threshold to £10 million and to provide that the conduct of a person who satisfies either the turnover test or the market share test will be excluded from the 1980 Act. Thus the conduct of a person will not be capable of being an anti-competitive practice under the 1980 Act if his turnover (combined with that of others in the same group if he is a member of a group of interconnected bodies corporate) is less than £10 million. The conduct of a person who enjoys less than one quarter of the relevant market will also be excluded unless he is a member of a group of interconnected bodies corporate which enjoys one quarter or more of a relevant market.