UK · contractsSources checked
What's the longest non-compete period UK courts will enforce?
There is no fixed maximum. A non-compete is presumed void as a restraint of trade unless the employer shows it is reasonable and no wider than needed to protect a legitimate interest, so the same length can be enforceable in one role and not another. In Tillman v Egon Zehnder the Supreme Court upheld a six-month covenant.
Sources
- Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2019] UKSC 32caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk (Find Case Law, The National Archives) · checked 18 August 2026 · Supreme Court judgment of 3 July 2019.
Related questions
- Is a longer covenant automatically unenforceable?
- No. Length is weighed as part of reasonableness rather than against a fixed limit. In Tillman the covenant ran for six months and the dispute turned on its wording, not its duration.
- What is an employer allowed to protect?
- The Supreme Court described protection against the dissemination of trade secrets or the solicitation of customers as protecting the employer's own property, and distinguished that from restraining an employee's use of their own skills and abilities.
- Can a court fix a covenant that goes too far?
- Sometimes, by removing words rather than rewriting. In Tillman the court severed the words "or interested" and restored the injunction with the rest of the covenant intact.
What this answer does not cover
- Whether a particular covenant is reasonable depends on the role, the interest being protected and the exact wording. This page does not assess any specific clause, and no length is safe by default.
- This states the position from the leading Supreme Court authority. It does not survey later cases, and non-solicitation or confidentiality covenants are judged separately.
