CMA chief exec announces plan to step down

Andrea Coscelli will leave regulator at the end of July after six years as CEO
Competition and Markets Authority chief executive Andrea Coscelli. Photo: Louise Haywood-Schiefer for Civil Service World

By Jim Dunton

10 Jan 2022

Competition and Markets Authority chief executive Andrea Coscelli has announced he will not seek a further term in office and will leave the regulator when his current appointment period ends in July.

Coscelli joined the CMA in 2013 when the body – which seeks to root out uncompetitive practices and probes proposed company mergers –  was founded. He became chief executive three years later and in 2020 agreed to stay on for another two years.

Although the CMA is an independent non-ministerial government department sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. BEIS also sets the wider framework for competition and consumer policy to deliver the government’s objectives.

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said he was “extremely grateful” to Coscelli for the leadership he has provided over the past six years.

“We will continue to work closely with the CMA to promote competition for the benefit of consumers and enable businesses to make the most of the many opportunities on the horizon,” he said.

Jonathan Scott, who was reappointed as interim CMA chair in October following an unsuccessful recruitment campaign to replace former chair Andrew Tyrie, praised Coscelli as an “outstanding” leader.

As an executive director, Coscelli was "integral" to the creation of the CMA in 2013, Scott said. “Subsequently, as chief executive, he has led the organisation through a period of transformation, as we took on substantial new responsibilities after the UK’s departure from the EU along with new functions including the Office for the Internal Market and the Digital Markets Unit.

“We are immensely grateful for Andrea’s contribution and leadership, domestically and internationally, and for the significant and lasting impact he has had on the organisation.”

Before joining the CMA, Coscelli was director of economic analysis at Ofcom. He was previously a vice president at global consultancy Charles River Associates.

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