{"id":691609,"date":"2026-01-12T18:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/691609\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T18:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:30:11","slug":"uk-pm-to-look-closely-at-franchise-reforms-amid-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/691609\/","title":{"rendered":"UK PM to \u2018look closely\u2019 at franchise reforms amid concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Starmer said he would \u201clook closely\u201d at an ongoing court case involving franchisees to see if \u201cmore can be done\u201d to protect those operating franchises.<\/p>\n<p>His comments came after the issue of pressure on franchising was raised during prime minister\u2019s Questions.<\/p>\n<p>More than 60 former Vodafone franchisees are currently in a High Court action against the mobile phone firm, with the case seen as a litmus test for whether the existing contract laws are sufficient to protect franchise operators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe prime minister\u2019s comments are the clearest indication yet that statutory reform for franchising is under active consideration,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinsentmasons.com\/people\/scott-oxley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scott Oxley<\/a>, QFP, a franchising expert with Pinsent Masons.<\/p>\n<p>The issues around franchising have already attracted increased parliamentary scrutiny. Last year MPs raise concerns during a House of Commons debate about power imbalances between franchisors and operators, and issues around regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n<p>The UK currently has no dedicated franchise laws, with arrangements governed in the main by a mix of contract, competition and intellectual property law.<\/p>\n<p>The sector operates through self-regulation, most notably through the British Franchise Association\u2019s Code of Ethics, which aligns with the European Code of Ethics for Franchising.<\/p>\n<p>Recent legal cases have indicated the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinsentmasons.com\/out-law\/news\/franchisors-implied-duty-high-court-decision\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">courts are more willing<\/a>\u00a0to examine cases involving unfairness in franchising, but legislative reform would have a more significant impact on how the industry operates, Oxley warned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the case exposes structural weaknesses in the current set-up, the UK may move away from self-regulation toward a statutory framework, similar to those in France, Australia and North America,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis could mean mandatory pre-contractual disclosure requirements to enhance transparency, statutory duties of good faith to restrict unilateral contractual variations, and enhanced procedural safeguards governing dispute resolution and termination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFranchisors should be proactive in reviewing their agreements and practices now, rather than waiting for potential legislation. Those who demonstrate fair dealing and transparency will be better positioned regardless of whether reform materialises at any point in the future\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; Starmer said he would \u201clook closely\u201d at an ongoing court case involving franchisees to see if \u201cmore&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-691609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115883555195310797","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}