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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
The OFT is the UK's consumer and competition authority. Their mission is to make markets work well for consumers; they are a non-ministerial government department established by statute in 1973. The OFT's mission is to make markets work well for consumers. Markets work well when businesses are in open, fair and vigorous competition with each other for the consumer's custom. Their job is to make sure that consumers have as much choice as possible across all the different sectors of the marketplace. When consumers have choice they have genuine and enduring power.
The OFT pursue this goal by:
- encouraging businesses to comply with competition and consumer law and to improve their trading practices through self-regulation
- acting decisively to stop hardcore or flagrant offenders
- studying markets and recommending action where required
- empowering consumers with the knowledge and skills to make informed choices and get the best value from markets, and helping them resolve problems with suppliers through Consumer Direct.
As an independent professional organisation, the OFT plays a leading role in promoting and protecting consumer interests throughout the UK, while ensuring that businesses are fair and competitive. The OFT tools to carry out this work are the powers granted to the OFT under consumer and competition legislation.