Doug Gurr, the 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 regulator has appointed a top ex-Amazon executive as its new chairman after facing Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s accusations of stifling growth.
Directorate for Competition and Markets announced late Tuesday that Doug Gurr, who previously served as country manager for Amazon UK and president of Amazon China, will serve as interim president, replacing Markus Boeckerinck.
The move follows a meeting by CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell and other regulators with British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to outline ideas on how to stimulate growth. Regulators were told to “break down barriers that hinder business and refocus their efforts on promoting growth.”
Cardel thanked Bokkerink for his leadership since taking on the role of chairman in 2022, telling CNBC on Wednesday: “He has been a tireless advocate for consumers, competition and a level playing field, and has a strong commitment to openness and stakeholder engagement across the board.” of the United Kingdom.
“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 added via email comment.
The government wants to see regulators like the CMA “infusing the economy with pro-business decisions that will drive prosperity and growth, putting more money in people’s pockets,” Britain’s Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement.
Reeves said the decision to replace Bokerink 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 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 to take growth ‘seriously’
Last year, Prime Minister Starmer told investors he wanted to make sure “every regulator in this country — especially our economy and competition regulators — takes growth as seriously as this room”, indicating dissatisfaction with the CMA’s work.
The UK has faced widespread criticism from tech executives and investors over a number of regulatory decisions, including intervention in Microsoft’s downloading video game publisher Activision Blizzard and its decision to force Meta’s Facebook it to deprive oneself GIF Database Giphy.
“The announcement of a new CMA chair 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-stimulating policies,” said Alex Hafner, competition partner at Floodgate.
“Mr Gur has been appointed on an interim basis, suggesting that this is not about succession planning but much more about reacting to current events.” “His background is also unabashedly commercial in contrast to his predecessor’s consulting,” Hafner added.
Gur’s appointment as chairman of the CMA comes after the regulator was given new powers to regulate big tech firms under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act (DMCC), which seeks to prevent anti-competitive behavior in digital markets.
It can designate large companies that have significant market power in a particular digital activity as “strategic market status.” The CMA now has the power to impose changes to prevent potentially anti-competitive behavior by any firm granted strategic market status.
