imported product- is this legal? After a merger between two large importers, this massive company is the only place to buy a certain product in the UK.
We buy this product from them and sell it on where we can but they sell direct to customers and can offer a much better price than us. Obviously they are able to undercut us by some margin or sell at an equivalent price and make a greater profit.
After the merger the importer raised the price of this product resulting in even smaller profits for us.
The manufacturers are EU based and refuse to sell to us citing the reason as being their 'long-standing relationship' with the current importer.
I have tried contacting the OFT to enquire about the legality of this. They said that it was an illegal practise but refused to investigate further because the sector wasn't big enough, 'de minimis' they called it.
The ideal outcome of this would be that the manufacturer would sell directly to us but they flat out refuse.
What options are left to us? We are a small company and we don't want to spend massive amounts on legal fees.
The above has more or less destroyed a portion of our business and put jobs at risk. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
We buy this product from them and sell it on where we can but they sell direct to customers and can offer a much better price than us. Obviously they are able to undercut us by some margin or sell at an equivalent price and make a greater profit.
After the merger the importer raised the price of this product resulting in even smaller profits for us.
The manufacturers are EU based and refuse to sell to us citing the reason as being their 'long-standing relationship' with the current importer.
I have tried contacting the OFT to enquire about the legality of this. They said that it was an illegal practise but refused to investigate further because the sector wasn't big enough, 'de minimis' they called it.
The ideal outcome of this would be that the manufacturer would sell directly to us but they flat out refuse.
What options are left to us? We are a small company and we don't want to spend massive amounts on legal fees.
The above has more or less destroyed a portion of our business and put jobs at risk. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.