Sir John Hayes

Sir John Hayes

Conservative — South Holland and The Deepings

Speaking in the House of Commons on 2 July 2025

Debate

Corporate Businesses and Franchisees: Regulatory Environment

Contribution

The Minister is absolutely right, of course. Contract law is well established and business contracts are enforceable in the way that he sets out, but the problem with franchising is that it is a hierarchical relationship that creates a kind of dependency. The franchisee is dependent on the larger business, so there is an in-built advantage if that larger business is inclined to be permissive in the way that it applies the terms of the contract, or even varies its terms. The parallel I drew in my speech was with supermarkets and primary producers. The supermarkets have so much power that the primary producer is implicitly weakened in that commercial relationship.

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