There's a specific kind of panic that comes with reading your own contract properly for the first time.
You've been made redundant. You've done the grieving, you've updated the CV, you've started applying. And then someone mentions the clause on page eleven — the one you skimmed four years ago because you were just glad to have the job — and suddenly you're being told you can't work in the only industry you actually know for the next twelve months.
Take a breath. Because that non-compete is almost certainly weaker than the person waving it at you wants you to believe.
The law starts on your side, not theirs
This surprises people, so it's worth being clear.
In England and Wales, a non-compete clause is treated as void from the outset. Void — as in, no effect at all. It's a restraint of trade, and restraints of trade are contrary to public policy.
Your employer then has to climb out of that hole. They have to show two things: that the non-compete protects a legitimate business interest, and that it goes no further than reasonably necessary to protect it.
Not that it's convenient. Not that they'd rather you didn't. Necessary.
"Legitimate business interest" is narrower than they think
The courts recognise three: genuine trade secrets and confidential information, established customer connections, and the stability of the remaining workforce.
That's the list.
What is not a legitimate interest is simply not wanting the competition. And crucially, a non-compete cannot reach your own skill, experience and general know-how. Everything you learned on the job that made you good at it is yours. You take it with you when you go. No clause can claw that back.
So when a non-compete bars you from "any business competing with the Company" anywhere in the UK for a year, ask the honest question: what secret are you actually carrying? If the answer is "I was good at my job", they're protecting the wrong thing.
Reasonableness: scope, geography, duration
All three have to hold up, and they're judged together.
Scope. A non-compete covering your employer's entire business when you worked in one small corner of it is drawn too wide.
Geography. A nationwide ban for someone who covered one region is hard to defend. Be careful with the reverse assumption though — if the business genuinely trades online and nationally, a wide area can be reasonable.
Duration. Three to six months is the usual sensible range for a non-compete. Twelve months is occasionally upheld for genuinely senior people with real access to strategy or key clients. For most employees, the longer the period, the harder it gets to justify — and the honest test is how long your knowledge stays commercially useful. In fast-moving sectors that's weeks, not a year.
One detail worth knowing: a non-compete is judged for reasonableness as at the date you signed it, not the date you left. A clause written for a junior role doesn't quietly get stronger because you were promoted twice.
The redundancy point almost nobody mentions
This is the part that matters most for you specifically.
If your employer seriously breached your contract when they dismissed you, they can lose the right to enforce the non-compete at all. Not have it narrowed down — lose it.
The classic example is being dismissed without proper notice, or without pay in lieu where there was no clause allowing it. If they broke the contract, they can't then rely on the bits of it that suit them.
So before you accept that you're bound by anything, look hard at how they ended it. Did you get your full notice, or the money for it? Was there actually a PILON clause? Were the figures right?
Other things that quietly weaken a non-compete
If it was slipped into a new handbook mid-employment with nothing given in return, there may be no consideration and nothing to enforce.
If you were put on garden leave, that time normally counts against the non-compete period.
And while a court can strike words out of a clause, it will not rewrite one for the employer. If the non-compete only works after a redraft, it doesn't work.
You may also have heard non-competes are being capped at three months. That was announced back in 2023 and it still isn't law, so don't plan around it.
What to actually do
Read the clause word for word and work out what type it is. A full non-compete is a very different animal from a promise not to poach your old clients — and the second one is far more likely to stand up.
Then be realistic about the other side of it. Enforcing a non-compete means the High Court and an injunction, which is slow and expensive. A lot of threatening letters are exactly that and nothing more.
Don't ignore one either. Get it looked at before you sign with a new employer, and tell the new employer it exists. They would much rather know now.
Free plain-English guidance on your contract and your rights: https://myredundancyrights.co.uk/my-rights