Competition and Markets Authority v Emma Matratzen GmbH & Ors

UK — Judiciary · 2026-07-30 · UK · verified record

Themes: Consumer protection · Online marketplaces · Online platforms · Search services

Case No: FS-2024-000004 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE CHANCERY DIVISION BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES BUSINESS LIST Royal Courts of Justice, Rolls Building Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL Before : MR JUSTICE RICHARDS Between : COMPETITION AND MARKETS AUTHORITY | Claimant | - and – | | EMMA MATRATZEN GMBH AND OTHERS | Defendants | Rob Williams KC and Daisy Mackersie (instructed by Competition and Markets Authority) for the Claimant Anneli Howard KC and Jonathan Lewis (instructed by Van Bael & Bellis) for the Defendants Hearing dates: 3 June – 5 June 2026 Approved Judgment This judgment was handed down remotely at 10.30am on 30 July 2026 by circulation to the parties or their representatives by e-mail and by release to the National Archives. ............................. Mr Justice Richards : In these Part 8 proceedings, the Claimant (the CMA) seeks an enforcement order under s217 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA 2002) against the Defendants (to whom I refer as Emma unless there is any need to refer to a particular Defendant). Emma’s business primarily involves selling mattresses online to UK consumers. The CMA opened an investigation into Emma’s selling practices on 28 November 2022. Since then the parties have worked together to address many of the CMA’s concerns. Those included the use of “urgency messaging” on Emma’s website that involved, broadly, visitors to Emma’s website being shown a countdown timer suggesting that particular mattresses would be available at particular prices only for a limited period that was coming ever closer to expiry. The CMA remains concerned, however, about Emma’s use of what the parties describe as “reference pricing”. Although that term may not be familiar to readers of this judgment, the concept will be. Reference pricing involves suggesting to customers or potential customers that a product is being offered at a price which is lower than some other price (the Reference Price). So, for example, the description of a product on the website might include the statement “Was £1,000, now £500”. A further example would be a description of the price of a product as “£1,000 £500” with the struck-through figure of £1,000 serving as the Reference Price.…