Regulator raps Asda and Sainsbury over land breaches

The Competition and Markets Authority said both Sainsbury’s and Asda had repeatedly breached the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order 2010. Both grocers had placed restrictions on land they owned to stop it being used by a rival supermarkets, or imposed restrictions lasting five years or more to stop landlords from allowing competing stores on land in the same block as an existing supermarket.

In total, the CMA said Asda had breached the order 14 times, while Sainsbury’s had breached it 18 times. All breaches happened between 2011 and 2019.

In open letters to both grocers, Andy Land, the CMA’s senior director for remedies, business and financial analysis, acknowledged they had cooperated in assessing their compliance with the order.

But he said the breaches still demonstrated "significant shortcomings" in compliance for companies of their "size, resources and standing, particularly given that the order has been in force since 2010".

He added that the CMA now expected Sainsbury’s to "move swiftly to rectify all outstanding matters", while Asda was expected to take "all steps necessary" to ensure future compliance.

David Stewart, executive director of markets and mergers at the CMA, said: "Restrictions of this nature are against the law, cause real harm to shoppers and will not be tolerated. This is particularly important at a time when many families are struggling to pay their weekly grocery bills."

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told the BBC that the "minor, unintentional technical breaches" had not reduced competition.

A spokesperson for Asda said: "All [breaches] relate to legacy transactions that occurred between 2011 and 2019, when Asda was under different ownership, and involve technical errors in documentation that have all been resolved."