The family of a former mobile phone store manager who was found drowned days before his new Vodafone franchise was to open its doors is pressing the government to introduce a new franchising law in his name.
The call comes a week after Vodafone settled a long-running legal claim filed by 62 of its former franchisees who alleged that the company “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense by up to £85m.
The confidential agreement was reached 19 months after the claim was originally filed at the high court “without any admission of liability”, the parties said in a joint statement.
The plight of the 62 claimants – who represented almost 40% of the total 167 Vodafone franchisees – was first reported by the Guardian in December 2024, after which Vodafone apologised to claimants, who blamed pressure from the telecoms group for triggering suicidal thoughts.
However, their number did not include Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee, whose family he say killed himself in 2018 after becoming convinced his new franchising deal with the telecoms group would prove financially ruinous.
His case was raised in parliament in January, prompting Keir Starmer, then prime minister, to pledge to review laws governing franchising agreements.
‘I want justice for Dad,’ said Kirsty-Anne Holmes, Adrian Howe’s daughter. Photograph: Mark Waugh/The Guardian
“There is no protection for franchisees in the UK – that needs to change,” said Howe’s daughter, Kirsty-Anne Holmes. “There needs to be some governing body to oversee these contracts. The fact that franchisors like Vodafone can put anything into a contract, such as personal guarantees, is really bad behaviour. If these protections had been in place previously, my dad taking his own life might not have happened.”
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 don’t want it to be forgotten and brushed under the carpet just because someone else takes over [as prime minister],” she said. “I want justice for Dad.”
Howe’s case, which was revealed by the Guardian in December, raised further questions about how the telecoms company treated its franchisees who, a 2020 survey revealed, were overwhelmingly critical about the effects its actions had had on their mental health.
Howe, 58, had been preparing to open a single Vodafone franchise in Irvine, North Ayrshire, but was then told by the company that he needed to take on a second franchise in Kilmarnock, his family recall being told.
He had previously worked in the Kilmarnock store and knew it had struggled. If its performance could not be turned around, the Howe’s family home would have been put at risk by a personal guarantee given to Vodafone as part of its 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 said his father then added: “This pint might have saved me.”
The store manager was found drowned a short walk from his home on 27 August 2018, days before his franchising business was to open on 2 September.
That looming date appeared to have prompted an entry in a notepad discovered at his home: “1st September nice to have death,” Howe wrote, according to the postmortem report.
Adrian Howe’s death was ‘consistent with drowning’, the pathologist said. Photograph: Mark Waugh/The Guardian
The pathologist’s document also hinted at other potential factors such as heart disease and stated that Howe had a “history of anxiety and depression (1995)”, though his relatives said that that specific mental health episode had been short-lived and never recurred. The forensic pathologist went on to state that Howe had “been ‘a bit stressed’ due to setting up a new business” as she concluded that his death was “consistent with drowning”.
Vodafone did not provide any fresh comment on Howe’s case this week.
The company said last year it “wholly rejects” any suggestion that it had “knowingly or recklessly or negligently” put anybody involved with its franchise stores under unreasonable pressure.
Mental health experts emphasise that suicide is usually complex and can often involve many triggers.
A Vodafone UK spokesperson has said previously: “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.”
