High Court Agrees to Split Trial in £85m Dispute Between Vodafone UK and Franchisees

The £85.5m legal dispute between UK mobile and broadband giant Vodafone and a group of 62 current and former franchisees (here) took another turn this week after a High Court judge agreed to split the trial, with both sides appearing to agree that a single trial would have been too “complex and unwieldy”. But the decision may have a cost impact.

In case anybody has forgotten. The associated franchisees, many of which previously said they had been “loyal ambassadors for the brand over the years“, claim that Vodafone – which itself left the British Franchise Association (BFA) not long ago – has “breached its duty of good faith and the terms of the Franchise Agreement“. The group allege that Vodafone did this by imposing “irrational and arbitrary business decisions” on them from July 2020.

Andrew Kerr, Rikki Lear and Donna Watton – three former franchisees and members of the claim – previously accused the network operator of causing them and their families “severe financial and personal distress including reaching the edge of bankruptcy, potential repossession of their homes, and serious mental health issues” – impacts they allege were also felt by others across the programme.

Some of the allegations claim that Vodafone’s commission payments and remuneration to the affected franchisees was “cut drastically and with little or no explanation“. The group also claims that the operator benefitted from government business rates reliefs that “were intended for the franchisees“, when they were facing financial distress during COVID-19. Not to mention some claims about Vodafone failing to “pass on rent free periods in its underlease terms to affected franchisees and charged them full rent“.

However, Vodafone has already said they “strongly refuted“ the claims, while at the same time saying they were “sorry to any franchisee who has had a difficult experience” and “acknowledged challenges were faced by some franchisees”. Despite this the operator did later terminate the contracts of several more franchisees because of their involvement with the legal dispute (here).

The case finally went to court for its first case management hearing on 26th March 2026, which occurred after previous attempts at mediation failed. Both sides then appear to have argued for the proceedings to be split, with the counsel for the claimants, David Lewis KC (Gatehouse Chambers), describing the approach of a single trial as being “extremely complex and unwieldy”.

The presiding judge, Mr Justice Bryan, has since agreed to split the trial into two. The first trial will thus tackle the issue of liability, while the second will address the matter of damages. The catch is that such a change could cause delays and increased costs, particularly further down the line when appeals may be lodged.

A spokesperson for Vodafone said:

“We reject the claims and will continue to robustly defend all aspects of this commercial dispute. We have engaged in efforts to resolve the matter with the claimants, including making a reasonable offer to settle. We have every confidence in our case and the court process, and in the absence of reaching a settlement, we remain firmly committed to resolving this dispute through the courts.”

Statement by Fairer Franchise (here):

“We are pleased the judge accepted our arguments and with this progress as the case moves forward.

This isn’t where any of us expected to end up. Many of us joined the Vodafone franchise program because we trusted and believed in the Vodafone brand. If you’d asked us when we joined the franchise program if this is where we’d thought we’d end up – we’d have thought you were mad.

Bringing this claim was never an easy decision. It came after years of financial and personal strain, and only once every other route had been exhausted.

We remain open to resolving this case with Vodafone. But we also remain focused on what comes next: establishing accountability, securing fair redress – and making sure what happened to us doesn’t happen to others.”

Vodafone said that, despite the case, they continue to run a “successful franchise business” in the UK with over 350 stores and many of those are said to have expanded their business with them. The trial(s) are expected to continue later this year.

Meanwhile a group of 8 MPs have just written to Vodafone to ask a number of pointed questions over the company’s approach to its franchise business (here), such as to ask why their franchise program has over a 60% failure rate and why they’re no longer members of the BFA. But the legal case may well make it difficult for the operator to respond in full.