If the cancelled chamber lunch had been a sour note to end on, it was not showing as Mr Haddrill appeared in good spirits.

His passing resemblance to a younger Sir Humphrey of BBC Yes Minister fame reinforced the feeling that broaching the unfortunate lunch would be bad form and a bad way to begin the interview.

So it was straight on to competition policy; perhaps a tedious subject for members of the British Chamber of Commerce, but one that should regularly rankle with choice-deprived Hong Kong consumers.

'In the UK the benefits are coming through for small- and medium-sized businesses as much as for the consumer from ensuring a level playing field' he said. He also reeled off a slew of economic benefits from fostering job creation to innovation, productivity and even keeping down inflation.

In Britain, competition policy has a long history, and receives cross-party political support.

In recent years the government has devolved policy from ministerial level to the independent Office of Fair Trading. Mr Haddrill described the legislation as a 'horizontal law', meaning that principles can be applied across all sectors of the economy.

'A competition regime needs to be consistent for business based on economic and market criteria, not political influence or short-term decision making,' he said.

The greater certainty for business has been cited by potential inward investors as adding to the attractiveness of Britain as an investment destination. Indeed, Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa alone has poured enough billions into Britain with its 3G investments to build a couple of West Kowloon cultural hubs. Whether chairman Li Ka-shing would rank competition policy as an attraction is less certain.

Mr Haddrill explained that much recent focus has been on deregulating existing consumer protection law: 'The best protection for consumers is competition, not adding new legislation.'

One of the larger roles is market studies on alleged competition breaches. He conceded that this could lead to complaints from big business when the cost of inquiries rises, especially if they are subsequently appealed to the courts. Yet he believes most companies accept this as an integral part of regulation for mature markets with such practices standard in Europe and the US.

The big prize, he contends, can be seen in Britain's ability to sustain high levels of employment over long periods, pointing to a lowering of what economists describe as a country's 'natural rate of unemployment'.

'A progressive series of deregulations has allowed the economy to move resources to successful companies,' explained Mr Haddrill.

The hard numbers appear to offer support. While Hong Kong's allegedly laissez-faire economy may outdo Britain's when it comes to picking up 'freest economy' awards from US think-tank the Heritage Foundation, its 6.8 per cent unemployment rate is well above Britain's 4.7 per cent.

It is hard not to be persuaded by Mr Haddrill's comprehensive assemblage of theory and facts.

Yet, the odds on Hong Kong submitting itself to some rigorous competition medicine still look long.

As it stands, business interests that run entrenched oligopolies across utilities, property development, ports, food and petrol retailing are hard to dislodge, no matter how compelling and principled the economic arguments.

This has not stopped the International Monetary Fund and European Union, among others, from calling for Hong Kong's government to get in step with best international practice.

Mindful of the sensitivities of representing a former colonial government - especially having served a four-year stint seconded to the Governor's Central Policy Unit in 1990-1994, Mr Haddrill was reluctant to beat his competition drum too loudly.

'What I would like to do is share the UK's positive experience,' he said.

Mr Haddrill did, however, note that Hong Kong had a successful competition law in telecommunications that had spurred innovation and brought down prices for consumers. 'Why not build on it?' he suggested.

Mr Haddrill was also willing to venture comment on the politically charged subject of the electric utilities in Hong Kong, where the absence of competition is a long-standing sore point for consumers.

He noted that both in Hong Kong and Britain, the electricity industry faced similar concerns over security of supply, price levels and the environment. 'The challenge is to balance these needs while retaining incentives to invest in new technologies and provide a fair deal for consumers,' he said.

It is now 12 years since Britain opened up its electricity industry to market competition, attracting investment from the US, France and Germany. By contrast, the regulation of Hong Kong's monopoly providers of electricity has remained principally unchanged for 40 years. As such, good examples alone could look a weak lever. Mr Haddrill said he did get to hear the local business community's views, even if they missed out on the chance to hear his.

Opinion was divided, he conceded: 'Some business parties do not want an expansion to a general competition policy ... others do not want sectoral intervention if it is confined to just their industry.' There seems to be some consensus there.

Ultimately, despite the returning civil servant's zeal for competition policy, he faces the same problem any recent converts to a new faith confront persuading non-believers. Mr Haddrill acknowledged this: 'The obvious reply is if competition is so good why didn't you do something about it when you were here last time?'

A fair question, although 10 years ago unemployment was unheard of in Hong Kong and Britain was in the doldrums.

Mr Haddrill's message is one that deserves a bigger audience.

Biography

Stephen Haddrill, 48, joined the British civil service in 1978 after graduating from Oxford University, where he studied history and economics. He began his Whitehall career at the Department of Energy, where he later became principal private secretary to the Secretary of State for Energy. Mr Haddrill spent four years in Hong Kong when he was seconded to work for the Governor's Central Policy Unit from 1990 to 1994.

He was later a director of the DTI's Competitiveness Unit, before taking over his current position as director-general of Fair Markets Group in January 2002. Mr Haddrill is married with two children.