UK Watchdog To Open Offices In Manchester & Darlington

The CMA will significantly increase its presence outside London with the establishment of offices in Manchester and Darlington, reported Reuters.

Manchester will be the home of the new Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which has been established to oversee a new regulatory regime for the most powerful digital firms. The DMU’s remit is to promote greater competition and innovation and protect consumers and businesses from unfair practices.

Manchester has been chosen because it offers a diverse and highly-skilled labour market as one of the top locations for digital as well as legal, IT and finance roles. The opportunity for the DMU to build links with local universities also made it an attractive destination.

The DMU will form a Digital Hub alongside the Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum (DRCF).

The CMA Board has also approved a proposal to set up a new CMA Microeconomics Unit (MU) to be co-located with the government’s new Economic Campus in Darlington. The MU will take on the CMA’s existing economic research and evaluation function, produce the annual State of Competition report and carry out research into supply-side reforms to improve productivity.

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