A former boss of an estate agency involved in the Burnham-On-Sea fee-fixing cartel scandal has been banned from being a director for five years.
Graham Thompson, a former director of Saxon PS Ltd, is one of seven Burnham estate agents who were caught entering into an anti-competitive agreement to fix a minimum 1.5% level of commission fee in Burnham.
It was unearthed by investigators from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and made public in March 2017, as we reported here.
The CMA subsequently issued proceedings against several of the directors involved in the scandal under section 9A of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 and asked the courts to decide whether to give the disqualifications the green light.
Graham Thompson, 49, was a director at Saxons PS Ltd from November 2012 until the company was dissolved via a compulsory strike-off in December 2017 after being hit with a £20,257 fine from the CMA.
The CMA has said this week he is now banned from both being a director of a company or being involved in the formation, management or promotion of a new one.
Thompson is not the only director connected to the scandal to be disqualified. In April last year two directors at Abbott & Frost were also disqualified.
Proceedings against another director, from Gary Berryman Estate Agents Ltd, are ongoing. Three directors from other firms identified in the investigation have been let off more lightly by the CMA after entering into leniency agreements in return for their co-operation in the watchdog’s investigations.
