UK competition reform – what will it mean for businesses?

The way the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) operates could change significantly in the next few years, under the government’s proposed Competition Reform Bill.

Announced in May 2026 as part of the King’s Speech, the Bill builds on changes already made by the CMA in recent years. The goal is to make competition enforcement clearer and more predictable, as well as making CMA investigations faster. The Bill also aims to reduce burdens on businesses and deliver benefits to consumers quicker while maintaining the CMA’s independence.

In this article, we cover the role of the CMA, how its approach has changed in recent years, the latest proposed changes and what they would mean for businesses going through mergers and acquisitions.

Need advice on mergers and acquisitions? Please contact Michael Budd, who will be happy to help.

What does the Competition and Markets Authority do?

The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer protection agency. Its remit includes investigating mergers to ensure they do not unfairly reduce competition in the markets, tackling anti-competitive behaviour (such as price fixing) and enforcing consumer protection laws.

Exactly which mergers the CMA will investigate is defined by the Enterprise Act 2002 and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). Broadly, CMA guidelines state it will look at transactions where two or more enterprises merge and meet certain UK turnover and/or market share thresholds.

Key points to know about the UK competition regime and the proposed changes

• The CMA is responsible for enforcing UK competition and consumer protection laws.
• It investigates mergers that meet certain thresholds around UK turnover and market share.
• In recent years, the CMA has changed its approach to speed up investigations and reach decisions faster, clarify which deals it will investigate and how its processes work, and prioritise alternatives to prohibiting deals where it has concerns.
• The goal of the proposed Competition Reform Bill is to take this further, with a particular focus on improving decision-making and accountability, cutting investigation times, further clarifying which mergers fall within the scope of the regime and increasing opportunities to resolve CMA concerns at an early stage.
• For businesses, this should make the regime more transparent while reducing delays to mergers and the costs involved.

What is proposed by the Competition Reform Bill?

No draft of the Competition Reform Bill has been put forward yet, but based on the details contained in the King’s Speech, it would:

• Improve CMA decision-making and accountability through a more consistent decision-making model and involving the CMA Board in decisions.
• Speed up market reviews and make them more focused, aiming to bring review timelines down to 18–24 months from the current standard of often more than three years.
• Provide greater clarity over when a merger may be investigated by setting out clearer CMA assessment tests as well as giving businesses and the CMA more time at the start of investigations to engage and agree solutions, reducing the requirement for lengthy investigations.

How has the CMA changed its approach already?

While it performs a vital function, the CMA is not without its issues – especially around its potential impact on economic growth. This has led to changes in its approach in the last couple of years as well as driving the proposed changes in the Competition Reform Bill.

The CMA can hold up mergers under investigation, causing additional work, costs and uncertainty for businesses. It can introduce anxiety for businesses considering mergers if they are unclear whether their deal falls within the CMA’s scope. On a broader economic scale, there is also a need to balance protecting competition and consumers with supporting growth.

In February 2025, the CMA set out its new approach to help address these concerns, based around the ‘four Ps’ of pace, predictability, proportionality and process. Practical measures emerging from this include commitments to reach decisions faster through streamlined processes, clarify which mergers fall within the CMA’s jurisdiction, reduce the number of mergers being prohibited through the use of alternative remedies and work to a published Mergers Charter giving transparency over CMA procedures.

How would the proposed changes to the UK competition regime impact businesses?

For businesses, the changes should mean a more transparent competition regime, shorter waits for decisions and a greater chance of resolving investigations at an early stage. This has the potential to reduce costs and allow mergers to go ahead faster.

How Longmores can help with mergers and acquisitions

At Longmores, we regularly advise clients on business sales, mergers and acquisitions. We can guide you through the entire transaction, getting the right terms in place, meeting all due diligence requirements and successfully navigating any regulatory hurdles. With strong commercial acumen as well as market-leading legal expertise, we will handle your deal in the best possible way for your wider business interests.

For expert advice on mergers and acquisitions, please contact Michael Budd, who will be happy to help.

Please note, the contents of this article are given for information only and must not be relied upon. Legal advice should always be sought in relation to specific circumstances.