The Situation
Bas invested years in his sales team. Training, client relationships, product knowledge — he invested time and money. When his best account manager left for a competitor last year, he accepted it. Until the first client called.
Our Approach
A non-compete clause is only enforceable with evidence of breach. Observation and documentation of concrete contact moments provide the basis for a successful injunction.
The Result
Loss of three strategic clients can mean hundreds of thousands in annual revenue — and the departure of further relationships if the signal is not stopped early enough.
Bas invested years in his sales team. Training, client relationships, product knowledge — he put in both time and money. When his best account manager left for a competitor last year, he accepted it. Until the first client called.
“Your former colleague contacted us,” said the procurement director of his most loyal account. “He offered to do the same work for twenty per cent less.” Bas thanked him for the heads-up and hung up. His hands were shaking.
The former employee had signed a non-compete clause. Eighteen months, the whole of the Netherlands, his industry. Watertight, his legal adviser had said at the time. But now a second client calls. And there are signals that a third conversation has taken place.
Bas wants to go to court for an injunction. But his lawyer is pragmatic: “For an injunction you need evidence that he is actually breaching the clause — concrete contact moments, conversations, transactions. Without that, we are on thin ice.” A cease-and-desist letter has already been sent. It was politely ignored.
He engages an investigation firm to document the breach. It feels unfamiliar — he has never done this before. But he realises: client relationships are his core assets. If he allows them to be eroded while he has the legal means to intervene, he has only himself to blame.
What makes the difference
A non-compete clause is only enforceable with evidence of breach. Observation and documentation of concrete contact moments provide the basis for a successful injunction.
Financial context
Loss of three strategic clients can mean hundreds of thousands in annual revenue — and the departure of further relationships if the signal is not stopped early enough.