In brief
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has promised to deliver direct financial benefits to consumers of at least five times the cost of the OFT annual budget to the taxpayer. Highlights from the past year, the OFT says, include an investigation into collusive tendering by construction companies which uncovered evidence of bid-rigging in thousands of tenders with an estimated value of £3bn, merger investigations which saved consumers about £52m and enforcement action leading to infringement decisions under the Competition Act 1998 which has saved £64m.
