Former Amazon UK head Doug Gurr has been appointed as interim chair of the Competition and Markets Authority “in a bid to boost growth and support the economy”.
He replaces Marcus Bokkerink who was in post for just over two years and comes after the chancellor Rachel Reeves met several of the UK’s most powerful regulators last week to say that the government expects them to follow its pro-growth agenda. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds was also at the meetings.
The business department adds the appointment “comes off the back of a meeting of the country’s leading regulators with the Business Secretary and the Chancellor, who were asked to tear down the barriers hindering business and refocus their efforts on promoting growth”.
Reynolds says: “We want to see regulators, including the Competition and Markets Authority, supercharging the economy with pro-business decisions that will drive prosperity and growth, putting more money in people’s pockets”.
Gurr, a former country manager of Amazon UK and president of Amazon China, is currently the director of the Natural History Museum.
He will oversee the Competition and Markets Authority while the government recruits a permanent chair, to work alongside the regulator’s chief executive Sarah Cardell.
The body is set to launch a series of investigations into technology companies under a new digital markets competition regime that came into force at the start of this month.
The first investigation, announced this month, is into Google, with further probes set to be announced into other firms over the coming months.
Gurr says: “I look forward to working with the strong leadership team to help deliver business investment and economic growth in a framework of effective competition and consumer protection.”
In November, Homes England chair Peter Freeman and chief executive Peter Denton announced they would resign after being sent a letter by housing minister Matthew Pennycook, setting out higher 2025 homebuilding targets.
