Neil Grundon, Deputy Chairman of Grundon Waste Management, says the Veolia-Suez merger will ‘stifle competition and limit customer choice’ in the waste market.
The news earlier this year that Veolia and Suez have reached an agreement in principle on the key terms and conditions of their long-planned merger causes me great concern.
We know that any market operates best when there is competition – not a race to the lowest price – but one where companies have the chance demonstrate their expertise and innovative ideas in a bid to ‘win’ the loyalty of their customers.
Yet if this deal goes ahead, huge swathes of the UK will find itself with very limited options when it comes to choosing a waste management provider, simply because the sheer size and reach of the new behemoth will overwhelm any competition.
A quick calculation reveals that around 75% of London’s waste collection contracts are serviced by one or other of these two companies – when these 2 Become 1*, their customers will have about as much choice as the likelihood of me buying a ticket to a Spice Girls reunion gig. In other words, zero!
The respective powers of these two giants, and their ownership of some of the UK’s largest and most geographically extensive Energy Recovery Facilities and Materials Recovery Facilities, mean it will be increasingly hard for others to compete.
I’m not sure why, but there seems to have been very little in the UK business press about these two French water and waste giants, and the impact this switch from a duopoly to a monopoly is likely to have on our domestic waste markets.
I can only think it is a lack of awareness of the range of facilities they own and the services they provide.
The respective powers of these two giants, and their ownership of some of the UK’s largest and most geographically extensive Energy Recovery Facilities and Materials Recovery Facilities, mean it will be increasingly hard for others to compete.
Most people reading this will know I’m a huge fan of Great Britain PLC. Post our divorce from the EU, we should be shouting from the rooftops about the dynamism and business opportunities here on our own shores, not throwing our arms wide open to a deal which has the potential to squeeze out UK competitors and short-change customer choice.
And the truth is that, as a smaller, regional provider, we WILL be impacted. We are more fortunate than some in that we own a network of waste management facilities across the south and south east of England, but there is little doubt it will be harder to compete because of economies of scale.
‘Led through the nose’
We face our sector being led through the nose by a collection of corporate suits from stuffy Parisian boardrooms who want to use their sheer power to muscle in and make sure we do it their way.
Not only do I think this will stifle competition but, with Paris now effectively in charge of purchasing for our industry, even the ability to source UK vehicle manufacturers must be in doubt.
Of course, it would be churlish not to recognise that this deal will no doubt create some benefits – one presumes greater investment in the UK waste infrastructure will be among them.
I only hope there will be enough left over from their fine dining at Britain’s waste table to allow UK companies to continue to serve up their own tailored selection of waste services for customers instead of just the plat du jour.
We need to make sure there are safeguards in place to ensure there is still room for the rest of us to offer home-grown solutions to our own waste problems
As the UK’s largest family-owned supplier of integrated waste management and environmental services we believe it’s the personal touch which sets us apart, our family ethos, our commitment to our customers – not to our shareholders – and to being the best in our field.
Whatever the decision, we need to make sure there are safeguards in place to ensure there is still room for the rest of us to offer home-grown solutions to our own waste problems – ideas that we can all export to the rest of the world and help make the UK great again.
Of course, there are many things the French are good at – couture, wine, perfume, missiles, intransigence, traffic jams – and so much more.
I found it interesting then, that when CNN Travel compiled a list of ‘things the French do best’, it featured Globalisation at number 10. I quote: ‘France has the world’s best policy on globalization — it spends so much time complaining that foreign invaders are killing off its economy that no one notices how French products are taking over the planet.
‘Have you checked recently who provides your electricity, who owns your transportation system, who feeds your army, even who built your city’s public toilets?’
I know there’s no mention of waste but, to be honest, I think that when it comes to resting my case – CNN Travel has done it for me.
*2 Become 1 was the Spice Girls’ first Christmas number one in the UK and their second million-selling single.
