Arla slaps a £15M claim on dairies
Six dairies facing Office of Fair Trading (OFT) penalties for price and market fixing in the Scottish fresh processed milk sector now face a £15M damages claim from rival firm Arla and its subsidiary Claymore over lost business.
Two of the six, Robert Wiseman and Graham's, called the action by Arla, which previously owned Express Dairies, "frivolous" and "wrong-headed", respectively.
Wiseman said the claim was "part of a long-running campaign by Express/Arla, since 1999, to lay blame at other parties, in respect of their flawed commercial strategy in Scotland." Its communications director, Graeme Jack, said: "We are incredulous as to how Arla can effectively charge the Scottish dairy industry for what we see as being its failure."
Arla said its damages claim was based on the OFT's provisional finding that the six dairies, which included Scottish Milk Dairies (SMD), Renfrew, Quothquan and Ballantyne, broke the law in 2000-2003 in sales to small shops and caterers in central Scotland. "In Scottish law, claims must be made within five years on a piece of business we've now sold on and the clock has been ticking," said Arla. Express sold its business in the sector to Graham's for £500,000 on November 3, 2001.
The OFT said that Wiseman and Graham's were involved in price fixing for four years, SMD and Renfrew for three, Quothquan for two and Ballantyne for one year and that, except for Ballantyne, all were involved in market sharing. They have until the end of November to respond to the OFT, which expected to make a final decision by mid-2007.
