Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to review legislation governing franchise agreements, in response to the case of a former Vodafone store manager whose family says he took his own life after pressure from the company. During Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Starmer said he would "look closely" at the outcome of the legal claim against the FTSE 100 telecoms group.
The case was raised by MP Johanna Baxter, who described the story of her constituent Adrian Howe. Howe, a Vodafone store manager of over 20 years, agreed to become a franchisee in 2018 but allegedly found the terms changed and was forced to take on a struggling store. Days before opening, he drowned. A Guardian investigation in December reported claims that Howe had become convinced the deal would be financially disastrous.
The prime minister responded: "Obviously there's a live legal case I can't comment on, but I can reassure her that we'll look closely at the final outcome of that case. There are strong rules in place, but we will look at the outcome to see if there is more that can be done."
The case is part of a wider dispute involving 62 former Vodafone franchisees who brought a High Court claim in 2024, alleging the company "unjustly enriched" itself. Among them are Rachael Beddow-Davison and Dan Attwal, who told the Guardian that commission cuts by Vodafone in 2020 caused them huge debts and contributed to suicide attempts. MPs have compared the case to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.
The government said last month it may consider new laws to correct the power imbalance in franchise agreements, responding to "harrowing stories" from small business people running Vodafone stores. The Howe family are not part of the ongoing legal claim, which Vodafone is contesting. A Vodafone spokesperson said: "Our sympathies remain with the Howe family. It is simply not true to suggest that Adrian Howe was forced to take on a poorly performing store and we absolutely reject this suggestion." The company added that Howe was not a franchise partner at the time of his death and that it has tried to resolve the dispute.
