The Office of Fair Trading has issued a Statement of Objections alleging that eight construction recruitment agencies have breached the Competition Act 1998.

The Statement of Objections sets out the OFT's proposed findings against A Warwick Associates, Beresford Blake Thomas, CDI AndersElite, Eden Brown, Fusion People, Hays Specialist Recruitment, Henry Recruitment and Hill McGlynn Associates.

The OFT alleges that these recruitment agencies engaged in the following conduct:

• Collective boycott - an agreement to withdraw from and/or refrain from entering into contracts with a particular intermediary for the supply of candidates to construction companies in the UK, which had as its object the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition in the market for the supply, by recruitment agencies, of candidates with professional, managerial, trade and labour skills required by the construction industry in the UK
• Price fixing - an agreement and/or concerted practice to fix target fee rates for the supply of candidates to intermediaries and certain construction companies in the UK, which had as its object the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition in the market for the supply, by recruitment agencies, of candidates with professional, managerial, trade and labour skills required by the construction industry in the UK

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John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive, said: "For a market to work well, companies should compete to supply services and set prices independently. If we find evidence of anti-competitive activity we will use the appropriate powers to punish the companies involved. If proven, the alleged practices in this case would amount to a serious breach of the law."

(CD/JM)