UK ministers have commissioned two detailed studies of how franchising businesses are governed as they consider whether new legislation is needed. The work is an evidence-gathering stage and does not itself create new rules.
The Department for Business and Trade is working with the British Franchise Association on a study of the domestic market. It has also engaged the Centre for Economic Policy Research to examine regulatory models operating in other countries.
Both reports will inform the government’s assessment of how to protect franchisees without imposing unnecessary burdens on small businesses. Lord Leong, appointed minister for small business and enterprise in July, now has franchising in his portfolio.
The review follows a January pledge by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in response to the case of Adrian Howe. The former Vodafone employee agreed to start a franchise in 2018 and was found drowned days before it was due to open; relatives said he feared the agreement would be financially disastrous.
Howe’s death should not be reduced to a single asserted cause. Mental-health specialists emphasise that suicide is generally complex and can involve multiple triggers, while claims about pressure remain allegations rather than established findings against Vodafone.
A separate group of 62 former Vodafone franchisees filed a High Court claim in 2024 alleging unjust enrichment. Vodafone settled that 19-month case confidentially in July 2026 without admitting liability; Howe was not a claimant.
Howe’s family continues to advocate an “Adrian’s law” for franchise regulation. Campaigners argue that contracts can treat small franchise companies as equals to much larger corporations despite substantial differences in bargaining power.
Vodafone rejects suggestions that franchisees were placed under undue pressure, says its network has more than 350 stores and notes that many partners expanded their holdings. The coming studies must distinguish those denials, settled claims and reported experiences from any policy conclusions still to be reached.
