The issue of post-termination restrictions in employment contracts and executive service agreements has been brought into sharp focus following the High Court’s judgment in Ryanair v Bellew. [1]

Ryanair V Bellew ⚓︎

Mr Bellew was the chief operations officer (“COO”) of Ryanair. During his employment he had signed an addendum to his contract of employment which contained a post-termination restriction which purportedly restricted him, for a period of 12 months after termination, from being:-

 “employed, engaged, concerned or interested in any capacity in any business wholly or partly in competition with the Company for air passenger services in any market […]”

In July 2019 he tendered his resignation and advised Ryanair that he had accepted a role as a COO