Investment bank Cazenove has hit out at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after the governing body launched a series of allegations into a wide range of price-fixing.

According to The Times, Mike Tattersall, a director at Cazenove and retail analyst, accused the OFT of pursuing a vendetta against retailers.

Tattersall sent a note to clients rejecting suggestions retailers were guilty of price-fixing. He said: “There have been three full Competition Commission inquiries in the past decade, all of which have reached the headline conclusion that the market is competitive… over a long period of time the UK supermarket industry has been characterised by thin margins, low returns, deflation and fluctuating profitability.”

He added: “The level of OFT scrutiny into the UK industry is, in our view, beginning to resemble a vendetta – following a bungled investigation into milk pricing which remains the subject of a legal dispute.”

In the past week the OFT has launched an investigation into price fixing on groceries, health and beauty products, and cigarettes.

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