Wednesday newspaper round-up: Franchise businesses, Lloyds, small businesses

(Sharecast News) - The UK government needs to eradicate "unsustainable" gaps in the policing of franchise businesses after a series of scandals to hit the sector, a parliamentary committee has found. The conclusion forms part of the business and trade committee's small business strategy report and follows a Guardian investigation in December which revealed claims that Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee who had agreed to become a franchisee in 2018, drowned after becoming convinced his deal with the multinational company would prove financially disastrous. - Guardian A lobbying firm co-owned by Peter Mandelson worked for OpenAI before the US tech company signed a wide-ranging agreement with the UK government to explore deploying AI in Britain's justice, security and education systems. In 2024, the $500bn-valued maker of ChatGPT was a client of Global Counsel, which Mandelson co-founded and part-owned. Keir Starmer subsequently appointed Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. - Guardian

Lloyds has won a tribunal against two employees after the bank punished them for posting messages that called Israelis "greedy" and accused the country of genocide. Afra Sohail and Aunngbeen Khalid sued the bank in 2022, alleging discrimination on the basis of political and religious beliefs after Lloyds sanctioned the pair and reported them to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the City watchdog, for gross misconduct. - Telegraph

The small businesses which underpin Britain's high streets and the economy are under pressures comparable to those of the Covid-19 pandemic but without the same support, MPs have warned. A report from the business and trade committee said that without action to address higher tax and energy bills, increasing crime and issues with late payments, the government risked accelerating business closures and "hollowing out" the high street. - The Times

A former advertising executive and his childhood friend have been fined more than £100,000 between them for insider dealing in shares by the City's chief regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority said Bhavesh Hirani, 41, was found to have passed on confidential information to Dipesh Kerai, 42, about a major deal between Bidstack Group, an advertising agency, and a "large video game publisher" before its announcement. - The Times