Author | Lightnews

Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 2d

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 · 2d

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 · 2d

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 · 2d

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 · 2d

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 · 2d

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 · 4d

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 · 4d

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 · 4d

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 · 4d

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 · 4d

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 · 4d

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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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

#FairerFranchise #JusticeForVodafoneFranchisees #MakeItMeaningfulMargherita

Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

And with every interview, every letter, every parliamentary mention, our collective voice grows stronger.

We stand for every small business owner who has ever been silenced by power, and for every person still too afraid to speak.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

But that hasn’t stopped the growing mountain of media coverage in The Guardian, City A.M., and Business Matters which have all contributed to amplify our story – showing that silence can no longer drown out truth.

Our question to Vodafone’s leadership – once ignored – became the headline.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

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

The CEO stayed silent. The Chairman made a joke.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

At Vodafone’s Annual General Meeting in July 2025, two of our franchisees stood before shareholders and executives and asked a simple but searing question:

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 4d

Through the bravery of the 62 former Vodafone franchisees, we are turning years of pain and hardship into public awareness.

Because when leadership won’t listen, sometimes you are forced to make them hear you.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 5d

The lesson is clear:

If leadership breeds uncertainty, hides information, and strips away control, stress isn’t a side effect - it’s inevitable.

#FairerFranchise #JusticeForVodafoneFranchisees #MakeItMeaningfulMargherita #MentalHealthMatters

Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 5d

Dr Maté reminds us that when people live under sustained uncertainty, deprivation of information, and loss of control, the body itself begins to protest. That’s not weakness - it’s the human response to being unheard.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 5d

Loss of control.

We entered partnerships believing we’d run our own businesses. Instead, we found ourselves trapped in systems where our sense of ownership and autonomy vanished, and with it, our sense of agency.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 5d

Lack of information.

Decisions that determined our livelihoods were made behind closed doors, leaving us in complete darkness.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 5d

Uncertainty.

Commission cuts arrived without warning. Contracts shifted overnight. Store closures loomed without explanation. We lived week to week, never knowing what change would come next – only that it would come at a cost.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 5d

As we reflect on the three stress factors Dr Maté describes, it’s striking how closely they mirror our own experience.

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Fairer Franchise @fairerfranchise.bsky.social · 5d

For Vodafone’s former franchisees, the concepts Dr Maté describes are not abstract. They were the daily reality of those who were at the heart of a crumbling franchise model that ultimately pushed people to breaking point.

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