Three businesses net £6m in fines over misleading pricing practices:The Competition and Markets Authority has imposed fines of £4.8m on Wayfair, £1.2m on Appliances Direct and £45k on Grays Gym under the Digitial Markets, Consumers and Competition Act in respect of misleading sales tactics. The CMA judged thatWayfair and Appliances Direct had misled customers with time-limited offers that did not end when they said they would – and Appliances Direct for also automatically opting customers into paid-for extras. Products were advertised on Wayfair’s website through ‘Daily Deals’ and 24-hour ‘Flash Deals’, alongside messages such as ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’ and countdown timers, which implied customers needed to act quickly to get the best deal but the CMA’s investigation found that many products remained available at the same price or lower after the stated deadline. Gold’s Gym was fined for not giving the total price for memberships, including the joining fee, in a clear and timely way. The CMA found that Appliances Direct automatically opted customers in to ‘remove and recycle your old appliance and an ‘installation on delivery’ service. The CMA found that Golds Gym failed to include the joining fee in the total price shown to consumers for their annual and Direct Debit memberships.The penalties imposed are stated to have been reduced by 40% on the basis that the businesses would not launch legal challenges.View >View >View >View >
Enforcement survey finds 90% of Halloween outfits to fail UK safety requirements:An investigation by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has uncovered a high level of non-compliance among children’s Halloween costumes sold by overseas third-party sellers through online marketplaces. Of the 11 children’s Halloween costumes randomly purchased from third-party sellers operating through major online marketplaces, 10 were found to be non-compliant with UK product safety requirements. Of the products assessed, 91% failed to meet UK legal requirements, with issues ranging from missing safety warnings and traceability information to wider labelling and compliance failures.View >
EU updates
EU–UK High level summit set for 20 November: The Prime Minister will meet António Costa, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, in Brussels on 20 November 2026 for the second UK-EU summit. The Prime Minister commented that ‘The deals we are working towards will make us safer, cut back on paperwork that bogs down business and ease pressure on supermarket prices. I want every family and business to feel the benefits of a closer relationship with Europe, and that’s what I will be focused on in Brussels’.View >
EU DG Internal Market testing finds high level of non-complianceof safety footwear on internet with EU requirements: Member state surveillance Authorities sampled the 83 pairs in 8 countries: Cyprus, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. 65% of the products were bought online and 35% in physical retail stores. The main failure points were poor anti-static properties and resistance to impact and perforation. Separately, formal and documentary deficiencies were also identified. These included: missing, unclear or non-compliant instructions for use; missing or incorrect protection category or EU Declaration of Conformity; and non-affixed or non-indelible CE marking. When both performance testing and documentary checks were combined, 82% of the products were non-compliant.View >
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