Competition and Markets Authority v Emma Matratzen GmbH & Ors

Facts

The Competition and Markets Authority brought Part 8 proceedings in the Chancery Division against Emma Matratzen GmbH and other defendants, a group whose business consists principally of selling its own brand of mattresses online to UK consumers. The CMA opened its investigation into Emma's selling practices on 28 November 2022, and the parties thereafter worked together to resolve most of the CMA's concerns, including Emma's use of countdown-timer "urgency messaging", which was disposed of by a consent order dated 22 May 2026 in which Emma admitted infringements and gave undertakings. What remained in issue was Emma's use of "reference pricing" — advertising a product as discounted by reference to a higher price, whether backward-looking ("was £1,000, now £500") or forward-looking (an introductory offer). Emma accepted "Duration Requirements" governing how long a Reference Price must be offered, but resisted the CMA's proposed "fixed volume requirement": a 1:2 ratio, subject to safety valves, requiring one sale at the Reference Price for every two at the discounted price. The proceedings were issued in October 2024 and fell to be determined under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, enforced through Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002, rather than the later Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Emma admitted certain limited infringements but denied any wider breach.