The High Court (Sheldon J) has handed down judgment in Dare International Ltd v Soliman & Hikmet [2025] EWHC 227 (KB).
Dare, an energy derivatives trading company, brought proceedings against two of its two former senior traders, Stephen Soliman and Ashley Hikmet. They had both resigned from Dare to join a competitor, Onyx Capital Management Limited. Both defendants contended that their 12 month non-compete covenants were unenforceable.
The Court found that:
- The 12 month non-compete covenants were enforceable, being no wider than reasonably necessary to protect Dare’s confidential information.
- Mr Hikmet had breached various contractual and fiduciary duties owed to Dare. He had unlawfully refused to work his notice period by claiming to be sick. This had been a “ruse” devised by Onyx’s Chief People Officer. Amongst other wrongdoing, Mr Hikmet had also started to work with Onyx during his notice period, unlawfully shared Dare’s confidential information with Onyx and failed to inform Dare of his wrongdoing.
- Whilst (unlike Mr Hikmet) Mr Soliman had been genuinely sick, he too had breached his employment contract by failing to attend an Occupational Health appointment, as requested by Dare, to assess what measures could be taken to facilitate a return to work.
- A final injunction was granted against Mr Hikmet for the full 12-month period. Springboard relief was also granted on account of the unlawful head start Mr Hikmet had obtained through his wrongdoing.
- Given the protection afforded to Dare by his absence from work and undertakings to comply with the non-compete covenant until judgment following a speedy trial, no final injunction was granted against Mr Soliman.
The proceedings are ongoing. The Court is expected to give directions for a remedy hearing to determine the quantum of damages to which Dare is entitled from the Defendants.
Jamie Susskind, Christian Davies and Aliya Al-Yassin act for Dare, led by Paul Goulding KC, instructed by A&O Shearman.
A copy of the judgment is available here.
