public interest. Supported by a tea

public interest. Supported by a team of officials, and in some cases including members
appointed to specialist panels (e.g. newspaper, telecommunications, water and electricity),
the investigating group gathered a wide range of written and oral evidence from
both the party or parties concerned and from others likely to have an interest in the outcome
of the inquiry. In reaching its conclusionswhich tended to take several months,
the group had to take into account the ‘public interest’, as defined under Section 84 of
the Fair Trading Act 1973 which stressed the importance of competition