‘Unsustainable’ gaps in policing of franchise businesses must end, MPs say

House of Commons business and trade committee calls for changes after series of scandals in sector

The UK government needs to eradicate unsustainable" gaps in the policing of franchise businesses after a series of scandals to hit the sector, a parliamentary committee has found.

The conclusion forms part of the business and trade committee's small business strategy report and follows a Guardian investigation in December 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.