UK replaces CMA chair with ex-Amazon boss after anti-growth criticism

LONDON — The British competition regulator tapped a top former Amazon executive as its new chair after facing accusations from Prime Minister Keir Starmer of stifling growth.

The Competition and Markets Authority announced late Tuesday that Doug Gurr, who was previously country manager for Amazon U.K. and president of Amazon China, would serve as its interim chair replacing Marcus Bokkerink.

The move follows a meeting between CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell and other regulators with British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves to deliver ideas on how to stimulate growth. Regulators were told to “tear down the barriers hindering business and refocus their efforts on promoting growth.”

Cardell thanked Bokkerink for his leadership since taking the role of chair in 2022, telling CNBC Wednesday: “He has tirelessly championed consumers, competition and a level playing field for business, as well being steadfastly committed to openness and stakeholder engagement across the U.K.”

“The CMA has a critical role to play supporting the government’s growth mission. I welcome the appointment of Doug Gurr as the CMA’s new interim chair and look forward to working closely with him as we drive growth, opportunity and prosperity for the U.K.,” she added via emailed comments.

The government wants to see regulators like the CMA “supercharging the economy with pro-business decisions that will drive prosperity and growth, putting more money in people’s pockets,” U.K. Business and Trade Minister Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement.

Reeves said the decision to replace Bokkerink was taken because the CMA needed to be led by someone who shared the government’s “strategic direction.”

“He recognised it was time for him to move on and make way for somebody who does share the mission and the strategic direction that this government are taking,” she said, speaking at a Bloomberg event Wednesday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Last year, Prime Minister Starmer told investors he wanted to make sure that “every regulator in this country — especially our economic and competition regulators — takes growth as seriously as this room does,” suggesting a dissatisfaction with the work of the CMA.

The U.K. has faced criticisms more broadly from technology executives and investors over a number of regulatory decisions, including an intervention into Microsoft’s takeover of video game publisher Activision Blizzard and its decision to force Meta’s Facebook to divest GIF database Giphy. 

“The announcement of the new Chair of the CMA cannot be pure coincidence, coming as it does at the same time as the UK Government is banging the drum for its growth agenda and calling regulators to account for their own policies on stimulating growth,” said Alex Haffner, a competition partner at Fladgate.

“Mr Gurr has been appointed on an interim basis suggesting this is not about succession planning and far more a reaction to current events. His background is also unashamedly commercial as opposed to the consulting one of his predecessor,” Haffner added.

Gurr’s appointment as the CMA’s chair comes after the regulator received new powers to regulate large technology firms under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC), which seeks to prevent anti-competitive behavior in digital markets.

It can designate large companies that have a significant amount of market power in a certain digital activity as having “Strategic Market Status.” The CMA now has the power to impose changes to prevent potential anti-competitive behavior from any firm that is given Strategic Market Status.