Ministers have commissioned a pair of in-depth reports into how franchising businesses are policed in the UK, as the government considers introducing new laws after high-profile allegations about conduct in the sector.

The action follows a Guardian investigation last December, which revealed claims that Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee who had agreed to start a franchise in 2018, had taken his own life after pressure from the FTSE 100 telecoms group.

The Department for Business and Trade is understood to be working with the British Franchise Association on a study of the domestic market, while it has also engaged the Centre for Economic Policy Research to analyse different models in operation internationally.

Both studies will feed into the government’s assessment of the legal framework required to “ensure franchisees are properly protected, while avoiding unnecessary burdens on small businesses”.

The developments come as the department said that Lord Leong, who was named in July as minister for small business and enterprise, has been handed franchising as part of his portfolio.

His appointment follows a pledge in January by Keir Starmer to review laws governing franchising agreements, as part of the official response to the Howe case. The former Vodafone store manager was found drowned days before his new franchise was due to open its doors when his relatives said he had become convinced his deal with the multinational company would prove financially disastrous.

December’s Guardian investigation also spoke to two former Vodafone franchisees who recounted that commission cuts by the company in 2020 had caused their franchising companies to run up huge debts, which they each said contributed to them making attempts on their own lives.

They were among a group of 62 former Vodafone franchisees who brought a high court claim in 2024, alleging the company “unjustly enriched” itself and which MPs have compared to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.

In July, Vodafone settled the 19-month-old court claim via a confidential agreement “without any admission of liability”. Howe was not included in that claim, which was launched after his death, but his family has since said they will continue to press the government to introduce an “Adrian’s law” to incorporate new regulations to govern the franchising sector.

Campaigners have argued that franchisees are uniquely exposed under the current UK system as the law treats their small companies as equals to huge corporations – even though there are often large imbalances in power formalised within the franchise agreements that govern the relationship between both parties.

During an adjournment debate on franchising in July 2025, the former Conservative minister John Hayes told MPs: “Franchising can be used as a method to exaggerate the power of the business at the heart of the franchise and to weaken the position of franchisees. My assertion is that is common and is particular in the case of Vodafone.”

A Vodafone UK spokesperson said: “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 of over 350 stores, 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.”

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.

The company has added that comparisons to the Post Office scandal are “wholly inappropriate”.

• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org