Vodafone sets date to meet MPs over franchisee scandal

Executives at Vodafone will next month meet parliamentarians amid growing scrutiny of its treatment of dozens of its retail franchisees, which a prominent MP said possessed "uncomfortable echoes of the Post Office [Horizon IT] scandal".

Sky News understands that senior executives from the FTSE-100 telecoms giant will hold talks with MPs, including the Reform deputy leader Richard Tice, on 21 January to discuss the escalating row. The meeting, which MPs had been pursuing for several weeks, will come weeks after ministers indicated they were prepared to review the legal structure of franchise agreements in Britain.

Money latest: How low could mortgage rates go? A group of 62 Vodafone retail franchisees brought a High Court claim last year, alleging that the company had "unjustly enriched" itself by cutting sales commissions paid to the small business owners who ran its stores in 2020. The Guardian reported allegations this week that a number of those affected had committed suicide or attempted to take their own lives.

In September, Vodafone began proposing financial settlements to some of the group of former franchisees. Mr Tice, whose engagement on the issue was triggered by the plight of one of his constituents, said in a statement on Thursday: "Vodafone's behaviour in this case has uncomfortable echoes of the Post Office scandal, where a powerful organisation is avoiding accountability while ordinary people running our high streets are left to suffer.

"That is completely unacceptable. "Vodafone must stop stonewalling, accept that serious failures in its franchising operation have caused real harm, and engage properly with Parliament to establish what went wrong and how this will be put right.

"I welcome the fact that a meeting is finally taking place, but it should not have taken this long. He added: "This must now be a serious and transparent discussion.

"MPs need urgent answers about Vodafone's conduct and meaningful engagement in response to the deeply troubling stories that continue to emerge." Vodafone rejected comparisons with the Horizon scandal. In a statement, Vodafone said: "We have tried on multiple occasions to resolve this complex commercial dispute.

"We offered to make a significant payment which we believed would ensure no claimants had debts associated with their franchise. "We were disappointed to learn that our financial offer was rejected by the company funding the claim, without having shared it with all claimants.

"We remain open to further talks and are sorry if any franchisee had difficulty in operating their business. "We continue to run a successful franchise business in the UK, with many current franchisees keen to take on more stores.".