{"id":20663,"date":"2026-02-11T00:17:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T00:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=20663"},"modified":"2026-02-11T00:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T00:17:16","slug":"unsustainable-gaps-in-policing-of-franchise-businesses-must-end-mps-say-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=20663","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Unsustainable\u2019 gaps in policing of franchise businesses must end, MPs say | Small business"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The UK government needs to eradicate \u201cunsustainable\u201d gaps in the policing of franchise businesses after a series of scandals to hit the sector, a parliamentary committee has found.<\/p>\n

The conclusion forms part of the business and trade committee\u2019s small business strategy report and follows a Guardian investigation in December<\/a> which revealed claims that Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee who had agreed to become a franchisee in 2018, drowned after becoming convinced his deal with the multinational company would prove financially disastrous.<\/p>\n

The cross-party committee highlighted further allegations from Vodafone franchisees of an imbalance of power in their agreements, which prompted them to launch a high court claim in December 2024<\/a>. Vodafone is contesting the claim.<\/p>\n

The MPs also raised separate allegations of \u201cwidespread sexual harassment and abuse in McDonald\u2019s restaurants\u201d and how franchisors could \u201cfail to maintain adequate oversight of their franchisees\u2019 employment practices\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cGaps in the oversight of franchise agreements allow serious employment abuses to go unaddressed and leave franchisees exposed to unfair contractual practices,\u201d the committee concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe absence of a dedicated regulatory framework or clear accountability for employment standards within franchise networks is no longer sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The committee added to calls for new legislation in the sector<\/a> by recommending that the government consider the \u201cintroduction of a statutory code of conduct, alongside stronger independent enforcement mechanisms\u201d.<\/p>\n

The wide-ranging report also identified \u201ckey pressures\u201d on small businesses including \u201can average of 38 stores closed each day on Great Britain\u2019s high streets\u201d; evidence that UK small businesses were owed \u00a3112bn in unpaid invoices by the end of 2024; and estimates by the British Retail Consortium that the autumn budget added \u00a37bn to the cumulative cost of policy and regulation affecting retail.<\/p>\n

The committee concluded that business rates should be replaced with a fairer system that \u201creflects a firm\u2019s ability to pay\u201d, while the late payment crisis could be ended by introducing \u201cstronger, enforceable measures \u2026 including mandatory transparency to change behaviour across supply chains\u201d.<\/p>\n

The committee chair, Liam Byrne, said: \u201cThe evidence we heard during this inquiry was stark. Many small businesses are now operating under pressures comparable to those experienced during the Covid pandemic but this time without an emergency support framework in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cSMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] are facing late payments, rising energy costs, increasing crime, a complex tax system and barriers to growth that are compounding rather than easing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese pressures are not isolated; together they pose a real risk to business viability, high streets and economic growth.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHigh streets do not die by accident. If the government is serious about growth, it must set out a more coherent and ambitious plan for the businesses that make up so much of the UK economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for McDonald\u2019s said franchisees were held to account on a regular basis through newly strengthened review processes.<\/p>\n

They said the company \u201creserves the right to take appropriate action, including the termination of a relationship, if a franchisee fails to deliver on our standards and expectations\u201d.<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cFranchisees have a contractual obligation to comply with all applicable laws and regulations and comply with all additional standards set by McDonald\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vodafone has previously said that it did not push Howe into agreeing to take on any poorly performing stores.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Unsustainable #gaps #policing #franchise #businesses #MPs #Small #business<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK government needs to era… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20663"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}