If an employee doesn’t sign an employment contract containing restrictive covenants can he be held to them subsequently? The answer is yes, but it will depend on very particular circumstances. The general rule is that an employee must expressly consent to be bound by restrictive covenants for them to be effective. However, in the case of F W Farnsworth Foods Ltd (1) Northern Foods Ltd (2) v Lacy and Ors [2012] EWHC 2830 the First Defendant, Mr Paul Lacy was held to have impliedly consented to the imposition of restrictive covenants (such as a non-compete, non-dealing and non-solicitation clauses), despite the fact that he had never signed the new contract provided to him upon his promotion to a senior management grade in 2009. The Claimants had obtained an injunction against Mr Lacy and this hearing was held to decide whether it should continue pending a full trial of the dispute.