Will Hayter, Executive Director for Digital Markets at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), delivered a speech evaluating the implementation of the UK’s digital competition regime. Speaking at the “Time to Reset: Unlocking Growth & Sovereignty Through Digital Competition” event, hosted by the Financial Times, News Media Association, and Reset, Hayter drew parallels between regulatory execution and athletic discipline, reiterating the regulator’s commitment to delivering structural digital market interventions predictably and swiftly.
The address directly responded to recent analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) in its report titled “Bottleneck Britain”. Hayter highlighted survey data showing that UK businesses view the dominant market power of major technology platforms as a far greater operational hurdle than traditional challenges such as securing access to finance or attracting talent.
The CMA’s enforcement measures span several critical sectors across the digital economy. In publishing and search, the authority has established publisher conduct requirements for Google Search aimed at securing fairer terms for news organizations and content providers. Across mobile ecosystems, consultations continue regarding steering requirements on Apple and Google, accompanied by binding commitments on app store rankings, review processes, and system interoperability. In cloud computing and enterprise software, formal investigations are examining Microsoft’s software ecosystem to target potential customer lock-in, restrictive licensing terms, and barriers to multi-cloud integration, particularly as artificial intelligence gets embedded into core business platforms.
Hayter emphasized that maintaining open, competitive digital infrastructure—especially within cloud services and AI software—is increasingly tied to UK economic sovereignty and operational resilience. By addressing strategic dependencies on a narrow set of global platforms, the authority seeks to cultivate a broader supplier base, sustain innovation from market challengers, and manage long-term enterprise costs across both the private and public sectors.
