NFRC suspends roofing lead supplier for breaching Code of Practice

On the advice of the NFRC Risk Advisory Committee, the Federation’s management board, has formally suspended HJ Enthoven (trading as BLM British Lead) as a supplier member for one year, for breaching the competition clause of the NFRC’s Code of Practice.

This follows the decision of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) (Roofing Materials – Case 50477) to fine BLM British Lead £8 million, as well as disqualifying BLM company director Jocelyn Campbell, for breaking the law by entering into four anti-competitive arrangements with Associated Lead Mills (ALM).

The four arrangements that took place between October 2015 and April 2019, involved:

• Colluding on prices
• Sharing the rolled lead market by arranging not to target certain customers
• Arranging not to supply a new business because it risked disrupting the firms’ existing customer relationships
• Exchanges of commercially sensitive information.

Associated Lead Mills (ALM) ceased their membership of NFRC in January 2021, and so were not subject to the NFRC investigation.

BLM British Lead will have a right to appeal and will have the opportunity to re-join the NFRC in one year’s time, if they can demonstrate they have put the necessary processes in to place to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.

Commenting on the suspension, James Talman, chief executive of the NFRC, said: “This decision demonstrates that NFRC‘s Code has teeth, and we mean what we say when we stand for roofing excellence. Our Code is clear that all our members, both trade and supplier, should agree to conduct operations with the principles of fair competition. This case was a clear breach of this and through due process resulted in suspension.

James added: “We hope this sends a clear message to the wider industry that anti-competitive arrangements such as this are not tolerated within our membership. We are working closely with the CMA to raise awareness of competition law and the lessons that can be learnt from this case. We urge all in our industry to refresh their knowledge of the relevant guidance in this area and familiarise yourselves with this case, including the recent podcast we did with the CMA.”