Androm - stock.adobe.comNewsCMA adds ex-Amazon UK boss to board as provisional judgement in cloud probe nearsThe former UK boss of Amazon UK has joined the CMA as its interim chairByCaroline Donnelly,Datacentre Editor Published: 22 Jan 2025 16:45 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has appointed former Amazon UK boss, Doug Gurr, to chair its board on an interim basis, as the deadline for the organisation to publish the provisional findings from its long-running investigation into the UK cloud market nears.The UK competition watchdog confirmed on Tuesday 21 January 2024 that Gurr will replace current CMA chair Marcus Bokkerink, who has held the five-year position since 2022.The reasons why Bokkerink has tendered his resignation for the role two years before the expected end of his tenure are unclear, but his departure comes at a time when the UK government is pushing regulators to take a more pro-growth approach to the work they do.To this point, the CMA announcement about Gurrs appointment states the news comes hot on the heels of a meeting between business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and the countrys leading regulators who were asked to tear down the barriers hindering business and refocus their efforts on promoting growth.In a statement announcing Gurrs appointment, Reynolds confirmed work is already underway to recruit a permanent replacement for Bokkerink.The government has a clear plan for change to boost growth for business and communities across the UK, said Reynolds.As weve set out, we want to see regulators including the CMA supercharging the economy with pro-business decisions that will drive prosperity and growth, putting more money in peoples pockets.Gurr is the current director of the National History Museum and until November 2020 served as country manager of online retail giant Amazon UK.I am honoured to be asked to chair the CMA at this crucial time, said Gurr in a statement. I look forward to working with the strong leadership team to help deliver business investment and economic growth in a framework of effective competition and consumer protection.Gurrs appointment comes days before the CMA is expected to release details of the provisional outcome of its long-running investigation into the cloud infrastructure services market, which includes scrutiny of whether Amazons cloud arm has indulged in anti-competitive behaviour.However, while Gurr is joining the CMA as chair, it is know that the team overseeing the cloud infrastructure services market probe operates separately to the organisations board.In response to the news of Gurrs appointment, Nicky Stewart, senior adviser to the Open Cloud Coalition, said that with the CMAs cloud market investigation entering a critical phase, it is important there is no deviation in the regulators commitment creating a more competitive cloud market.We urge the regulator to stay the course and take decisive action to create a fairer, more competitive cloud market that benefits businesses, consumers and the wider digital economy, said Stewart.The cloud industry can only flourish when there is a level-playing field, and as outlined in our position paper, meaningful intervention is essential to unlocking innovation and investment across the sector.Computer Weekly contacted the CMA for a statement about whether Gurrs appointment might leave the organisation open to conflict of interest accusations, but no public comment was forthcoming.Read more about the CMA investigation into the cloud services marketThe CMA published the summary hearings from Microsoft, AWS and Google this week, which revealed all three had quite a lot to say on the Redmond software giants cloud licensing practices.After regulator Ofcom raised red flags about the anti-competitive behaviour of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, the UK cloud market was referred to the Competition and Markets Authority heres why.In The Current Issue:Can the UK government achieve its ambition to become an AI powerhouse?A guide to DORA complianceDownload Current IssueData engineering - Alteryx: Investing for scale with an eye on value CW Developer NetworkData engineering - Nutanix: All engineering starts with infrastructure CW Developer NetworkView All Blogs