Author | Lightnews

Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 18h

#FairerFranchise #JusticeForVodafoneFranchisees #MakeItMeaningfulMargherita

Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 18h

The livelihoods, stability, and mental health of real people were collateral damage in the pursuit of efficiency and control.

It is no longer acceptable for Margherita Della Valle to “dispassionately” stand back and manage from the outside.

Margherita, we want you to step forward - not stand back.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 18h

The kind of leadership that “stands back” is exactly what got us here. It’s the kind of leadership that sees crisis through spreadsheets, not faces. That calls human suffering a “commercial dispute.”

This change – the kind Vodafone defends as transformation – has come at a devastating human cost.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 18h

These actions left franchisees drowning in debt, losing their homes, and with severe mental health problems. These are the lives upended by decisions made far from the realities of the shop floor.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 18h

This dispassionate stance echoes Vodafone’s treatment of its franchisees who, in December 2024, filed a landmark legal claim against the telecoms giant over alleged unfair business practices that resulted in huge cuts to our income, disproportionate fines, and clawbacks.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 18h

For Vodafone’s franchisees, that sentiment feels painfully familiar.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 18h

We want you to come forward Margherita, not stand back

When asked what advice she could give to a leader “embarking on change”, Vodafone’s CEO Margherita Della Valle said:

“Stand back and dispassionately look at what you’re managing from the outside”

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 1d

You cannot champion “transparency and honesty” while ignoring those who have suffered as a result of your decisions.

It’s time for a change. Margherita, we want an answer.

#FairerFranchise #JusticeForVodafoneFranchisees #MakeItMeaningfulMargherita

Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 1d

We were promised transparent and honest leadership, and ownership over mistakes made. Instead, we were met with closed doors, corporate distance, and a leadership culture that looks away when it should listen.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 1d

Della Valle declined to respond.

For the 62 current and former franchisees behind the landmark legal claim against Vodafone, this silence has become a pattern.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 1d

At Vodafone’s Annual General Meeting in July 2025, former Vodafone franchisees asked the CEO and other Vodafone leadership:

“Margherita, how do you sleep at night knowing Vodafone’s actions left people suicidal, cost them their homes and left them drowning in debt?”

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 1d

When asked about the tension and discomfort involved in change, Della Vale stated:

“All companies need tension and discomfort to be successful… I want us to be always conscious of the mistakes we do”

Powerful words – but actions tell a different story.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 1d

When asked how she thought about trust when building relationships, Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle answered:
“It’s all about transparency and honesty”

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

The Fairer Franchise group isn’t just fighting for justice.
We’re proving that unity, compassion, and shared purpose can rebuild what corporate conduct tried to destroy.

#FairerFranchise #JusticeForVodafoneFranchisees #MakeItMeaningfulMargherita

Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

And a community that continues to unite, because standing together is the strongest form of making sure our voices aren’t silenced.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

A community that celebrates courage – like those who stood up at Vodafone’s AGM, asking questions that leadership refused to answer.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

The result? A community who had the resolve to stand up for themselves.

A community that supports each other through the legal process.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

People who had once felt alone and isolated began to reconnect and find a voice. They found others who had lived through the same uncertainty, faced the same financial loss, and endured the same silence.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

What began as a legal claim has become something much greater.

When 62 current and former franchisees brought a landmark legal action against Vodafone, it wasn’t just about contracts, commissions, or clauses – it was about accountability, fairness, and dignity.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 6d

Thank you to Luke Akehurst MP for highlighting this issue in Parliament today. We will continue fighting for a Fairer Franchise.

#FairerFranchise #JusticeForVodafoneFranchisees #MakeItMeaningfulMargherita

Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 6d

This principle is not new. Litigation funding was also integral to helping the Post Office sub-postmasters bring their landmark claim - a case that has since transformed the national conversation on corporate responsibility and justice.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 6d

It has allowed us to seek redress - and to continue to challenge how franchise agreements are structured and used by franchisors, with the goal of transforming how franchisees are treated in the UK.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 6d

For us, this isn’t an abstract debate. Litigation funding has been the only reason we’ve been able to continue making our case while Vodafone ignored us and we lacked the resources to challenge them.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 6d

Mr Akehurst highlighted that without funding arrangements that level the playing field, ordinary people are able to access justice who otherwise would be denied it.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 6d

Just now in Westminster Hall, Luke Akehurst MP - the constituent MP for one of our claimants, Mick Wilson - raised the vital point about the crucial role of litigation funding in enabling access to justice for our group of 62 franchisees pursuing our claim against Vodafone.

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