Doug Gurr, former head of Amazon in the UK, has been appointed chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority.
David M. Bennett | Getty Images for Amazon
LONDON – Britain’s competition watchdog has tapped a former top Amazon executive as its new chairman after facing accusations from Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he is stifling growth.
Directorate for Market Competition and Markets announced late Tuesday that Doug Gurr, who previously served as regional manager for Amazon UK and president of Amazon China, will serve as interim chairman in place of Marcus Bokkerink.
The move follows a meeting between CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell and other regulators with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to brainstorm how to boost growth. Regulators were told to “break down barriers that hinder business and refocus their efforts on promoting growth.”
Cardell thanked Bokkerink for his leadership since taking on the role of chairman in 2022, telling CNBC on Wednesday: “He has championed tirelessly for consumers, competition and the level playing field, as well as being steadfastly committed to openness and stakeholder engagement across the UK.”
“The CMA has a key role to play in supporting the Government’s growth mission. I welcome the appointment of Doug Gurr as the new interim chairman of the CMA and look forward to working closely with him as we drive growth, opportunity and prosperity for the UK,” she said. added via emailed comments.
The government wants to see regulators like the CMA “fueling the economy with pro-business decisions that will drive prosperity and growth, putting more money in people’s pockets,” UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement.
Reeves said the decision to replace Bokkerink was made because the CMA needed to be led by someone who shared the government’s “strategic direction”.
“He recognized that it was time to move on and make room for someone who shares the mission and the strategic direction that this government is taking,” she said, speaking at a Bloomberg event on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Push for growth to be taken ‘seriously’
Last year, Prime Minister Starmer told investors he wanted to make sure “every regulator in this country — especially our economic and competition regulators — takes growth as seriously as this room does,” suggesting dissatisfaction with the CMA’s work.
The UK has faced widespread criticism from tech executives and investors over a series of regulatory decisions, including intervention in Microsoft’s downloading video game publisher Activision Blizzard and its decision to force It’s a target Facebook to to deprive oneself GIF Database Giphy.
“The announcement of a new CMA chairman cannot be a pure coincidence, as it comes at the same time as the UK Government is beating the drum for its growth agenda and holding regulators to account for their own growth-promoting policies,” he said. Alex Haffner, Competition Partner at Fladgate.
“Mr Gurr was appointed on an interim basis, which suggests this is not about succession planning, but a reaction to current events. His experience is also unashamedly commercial in contrast to his predecessor’s consulting,” Haffner added.
Gurr’s appointment as chairman of the CMA comes after the regulator was given new powers to regulate big tech companies under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act (DMCC), which seeks to prevent anti-competitive behavior in digital markets.
It may designate large companies that have significant market power in a particular digital activity as having “Strategic Market Status.” The CMA now has the power to impose changes to prevent potentially anti-competitive behavior by any company granted strategic market status.
