Every employee is entitled to a written statement of their main terms from day one, but the legal minimum is a skeleton.
It does not protect your confidential information, secure the intellectual property your staff create, give you flexibility over duties or location, or restrain anyone from taking your clients on the way out.
Businesses tend to discover which of those is missing at the point the relationship ends. The Employment Rights Act 2025 is also phasing in through 2026 and 2027, which changes what contracts need to say.
The employment contract sets the terms of the relationship with each employee.
We help with:
- employment contracts for new hires, from junior to senior;
- reviewing and updating an existing contract suite;
- confidentiality, intellectual property and restrictive covenants;
- part-time, fixed-term, casual and zero-hours arrangements;
- bonus, commission and incentive terms; and
- varying terms lawfully when the business changes.
We draft to the role and the risk, because a senior hire with client relationships and access to your systems needs different protection from an entry-level role.
On existing suites, we look for the quiet problems, such as terms that contradict the handbook, restrictions that would never be enforced, and provisions the law has since overtaken.
Our Approach
Legal advice that makes running and growing your business easier.
We start with your business, not the law.
Before we open a document, we want to understand what you are trying to do commercially. The legal answer is only useful if it serves that.
We get to the point.
You get a clear view of what matters and what does not, in plain English, with the real risks separated from the noise.
We give you an answer.
Not a menu of options and a shrug. We tell you what we would do, why, and where there is a genuine judgment call for you to make.
We stay available.
Whether you work with us on a single project or on a subscription, we are here for the follow-up question. We would always rather you asked.
Ways of working together
Fixed-fee projects
A single, defined piece of work for an agreed fixed fee, communicated before we engage. Reviewing a contract, drafting your terms, handling a negotiation.
No surprises and no hidden fees
Flagship Subscription
Ares Access
Ongoing support on a fixed monthly subscription, for businesses that need commercial legal input regularly rather than as the occasional one-off.
- Dedicated lawyer
- Fixed monthly fees
- Commercial advice on demand
From £500 plus VAT per month
Legal Health Check
Fixed fee of £2,000 plus VAT
Any questions?
Phone: 02382 420035
