The family of a former mobile phone store manager found drowned days before his new Vodafone franchise was poised to open is pressing the government to establish a new franchising statute in his name.
This call to action follows Vodafone’s settlement last week of a long-running legal claim filed by 62 former franchisees, who alleged the company had “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense by up to £85 million.
The confidential agreement was reached 19 months after the claim was originally filed at the High Court “without any admission of liability,” the parties stated in a joint announcement.
The situation of the 62 claimants—representing nearly 40% of Vodafone’s total 167 franchisees—was first brought to public attention by the Guardian in December 2024. Following the report, Vodafone apologized to claimants, who blamed pressure from the telecoms group for triggering their suicidal thoughts.
However, the 62 claimants did not include Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee whose family says he took his own life in 2018 after becoming convinced his new franchising deal with the telecoms giant would result in financial ruin.
His case was raised in parliament in January, prompting Keir Starmer, then the Prime Minister, to pledge a review of laws governing franchising agreements.
“There is no protection for franchisees in the UK—this must change,” stated Howe’s daughter, Kirsty-Anne Holmes. “There needs to be a governing body to oversee these contracts. The fact that franchisors like Vodafone can insert personal guarantees into agreements constitutes deeply unacceptable conduct. If these protections had existed before, my father’s choice to end his life might not have occurred.”
Holmes met a representative of the then Department for Business and Trade earlier this month to discuss her father’s case and raised the prospect of new franchising regulations under the banner of “Adrian’s law”.
“I refuse to let this be forgotten or swept under the carpet simply because a new prime minister takes over,” she added. “I want justice for my father.”
Howe’s case, first exposed by the Guardian in December, raised further questions about how the telecoms company treated its franchisees. A 2020 survey revealed that operators were overwhelmingly critical of the impact the company’s actions had on their mental health.
Howe, 58, had been preparing to open a single Vodafone franchise in Irvine, North Ayrshire, but was subsequently told by the company that he needed to take on a second franchise in Kilmarnock, his family recalls.
He had previously worked in the Kilmarnock store and was aware of its struggles. If the outlet’s performance could not be salvaged, the Howe family home would have been jeopardized by a personal guarantee given to Vodafone as part of the franchising contracts.
Howe’s youngest son, Nathan, recalled his father telling him “Vodafone has me by the balls” when they met for a drink at a local pub shortly before his death. He noted his father then added: “This pint might have saved me.”
The store manager was discovered drowned a short walk from his home on 27 August 2018, just days before his franchising business was due to open on 2 September.
That looming deadline appeared to have prompted an entry in a notepad recovered at his residence: “1st September nice to have death,” Howe wrote, according to the postmortem report.
The pathologist’s report also hinted at potential medical factors, such as heart disease, and noted that Howe had a “history of anxiety and depression (1995),” though his relatives emphasized that this particular episode had been short-lived and never recurred. The forensic pathologist concluded that Howe had “been ‘a bit stressed’ due to setting up a new business” and determined his death was “consistent with drowning.”
Vodafone declined to offer fresh comment on Howe’s case this week.
The company previously stated last year that it “wholly rejects” any suggestion it had “knowingly or recklessly or negligently” placed those involved in its franchise stores under unreasonable pressure.
Mental health experts emphasize that suicide is typically complex and often involves a combination of triggers.
A Vodafone UK spokesperson had previously stated: “While we are sorry if any partners have had a difficult experience, we reject any suggestion that our franchisees were put under undue pressure. We continue to run a successful franchise operation, and many of our existing franchisees have expanded their business with us by taking on additional stores. We encourage everyone to raise issues, and we will always seek to resolve them.”
