LATEST NEWS
Subsidy control webinar with Bevan Brittan
Our colleagues Sam Williams, Hywel Cleverdon and Natalie Luyt will be joining Bethan Lloyd and Sally Stone of Bevan Brittan to speak at a webinar on achieving your objectives within the UK’s new subsidy control regime. The webinar will cover both a legal and economics perspective, exploring: an overview of the UK subsidy control regime; the key requirements for compliance (legal and economic); the pitfalls and risks in demonstrating compliance; and advice on seeking external support.
More information about the event, including how to register, can be found here.
Partnership with ThoughtLeaders4 Competition
We are pleased to announce that we are partnering with ThoughtLeaders4 Competition (TL4C). We look forward to working with them across a range of competition law and competition litigation initiatives over the next 12 months. More information can be found here.
DAF’s Appeal to Trucks Judgement Rejected by Court of Appeal
Today, the UK Court of Appeal published its judgment in relation to DAF’s appeal of the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT’s) judgment in Royal Mail / BT vs DAF.
DAF had four grounds of appeal, relating to: the econometric estimation of the overcharge; the scope for pass-on (in the context of companies subject to regulatory price controls); the value of commerce; and the estimation of interest. The Court of Appeal has rejected DAF’s appeal in its entirety.
James Harvey, supported by the team at Economic Insight, provided substantial expert evidence for Royal Mail and BT during the proceedings at the CAT, covering 8 of the 10 issues requiring determination. The expert evidence included several days of oral evidence given during cross-examination and so-called hot-tubbing.
Ian Thompson Speaks at Utility Week Forum
Economic Insight Associate Director, Ian Thompson, will be joining a panel discussion at the Utility Week Forum on Wednesday 17th January. The panel will discuss how utilities can be supported to deliver their long term goals. The panel will cover topics such as attracting shareholder investment, balancing public and private investment, and ensuring financial resilience. Ian will be joined by Rebecca Beresford, from EDF (UK); Darren Pettifer from National Grid; and Matthew Hindle, from Wales & West Utilities. More details of the event can be found here.
Economic Insight Promotions
We are delighted to announce the following promotions this year:
– Kyran Stewart has been promoted from Consultant to Senior Consultant.
– William Ward has been promoted from Analyst to Consultant.
– Audrey Frankel has been promoted from Analyst to Consultant.
– Joe Minichiello has been promoted from Analyst to Consultant.
Their promotions recognise the fantastic contributions they have made to Economic Insight through their skills and ambition, and importantly their support for their colleagues and clients.
Developing the gold standard for financeability
Economic Insight is excited to announce the commencement of our ‘financeability blueprint’ programme of work. Between now and Spring 2024, we’ll be taking forward a range of work to answer the ‘key questions’ that determine a best practice approach to assessing financeability in UK regulated infrastructure. Over this period, we’ll be working with leading academics; finance professionals; and other stakeholders to ensure our finalised blueprint represents the ‘gold standard’ in financeability assessments.
Commenting, Sam Williams (a Director and co-founder of Economic Insight) said: “I’m delighted that Economic Insight are leading the way in this critical area. Over the last 20 years, the assessment of financeability has evolved considerably, such that now is absolutely the right time to bring the focus back to the underlying intuition. In the context of the UK’s persistent low investment and productivity, the importance of this cannot be understated.”
We’ll be publishing summaries of our work periodically with Utility Week (the first of which appears today); cumulating in a ‘launch event’ in London.”
David, Goliath and value for money
One of our Analysts, William Ward, has written the final article of our summer series on the economics of sport. The article explores one way that underfinanced football clubs can “outthink” their competitors when faced with the impossible task of “outspending” them. The article can be found here.
The effect of the Premier league on competition in the EFL
One of our Consultants, David Sookias, has written an article that explores competition in England beyond the elite-level, looking specifically at the EFL (the three divisions below the Premier League). He assesses how the Premier League can affect competition in the EFL, and also what is positive about the level competition in the EFL. The article can be found here.
The Economics of the European Super League – Part two
For the fifth instalment of our sports summer series, we have the second half of our two part article on the economics of the proposed European Super League, written by one of our Analysts, David Arnett. This article follows on from last week exploring the potential implications of the European Super League for competition in the football industry. The article can be found here.