UK picks ex-Amazon executive to chair competition regulator

The UK government has appointed a former top executive at online titan Amazon to be the interim chair of the country's competition regulator, hoping the appointment will help drive economic growth.

While competition watchdogs around the world are heavily focused on probing technology giants, Britain's Labour government believes too much regulation is hampering growth.

The appointment late Tuesday of Doug Gurr, former country manager of Amazon UK and president of Amazon China, to steer the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) comes after his predecessor, Marcus Bokkerink, was reportedly ousted for insufficient focus on growth.

"In a bid to boost growth and support the economy, Doug Gurr has... been appointed as interim chair" of the CMA, a statement said.

Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, added that the government wanted "to see regulators including the CMA supercharging the economy with pro-business decisions that will drive prosperity and growth".

The statement noted that at a recent meeting with Reynolds and finance minister Rachel Reeves, UK regulators "were asked to tear down the barriers hindering business and refocus their efforts on promoting growth".

Gurr is currently director of the Natural History Museum in London.