Employment contract for a business development manager

A business development manager holds the relationships the business depends on and knows what every customer pays, which makes the departure clauses the most important part of their contract: covenants that will stop them taking the accounts to a competitor, garden leave that keeps them out of the market during notice, and confidentiality that covers pricing and margins. The contract also has to set the authority they have to commit the business and the bonus they will argue about. I draft that contract for the employer for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days; for a director-level role with equity and board duties, the senior or director service agreement is the right document.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales hiring or re-papering business development managers, heads of sales, account directors and senior commercial staff whose value to the business is the relationships they hold.

What matters in a business development manager's contract

The role, authority and the deals the manager may commit to

The contract should state the role and reporting line, the manager's authority to negotiate and commit the business (within approved pricing and terms, with contracts above a value or outside standard terms requiring approval), the obligation to use the business's standard terms and to record deals in its systems, and the territory, accounts and targets with the employer's right to reallocate them; a manager who signs non-standard terms the business did not approve has bound it, and the contract should make the limit of authority a term the manager has agreed.

Pay, bonus and the discretion that is not discretionary

The contract should state the base salary, the commission or bonus plan and whether it is contractual or discretionary, the targets and the measurement, when bonus is earned and paid and the position on leaving, and the employer's right to vary the plan for future periods on notice; a bonus described as discretionary must still be exercised rationally and in good faith, a bonus paid year after year on the same basis becomes contractual, and bonus earned is wages that cannot be withheld under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, so the contract should say what the discretion covers and the plan should set the rules, with clawback provisions consented to in writing.

Restrictive covenants drafted for someone who owns the relationships

A non-solicitation and non-dealing clause covering customers and prospects the manager dealt with in the last part of their employment, for a period reflecting how long the relationship stays warm, a non-solicitation of staff, and a non-compete only where the business can show that a non-solicitation would not protect it, each limited to the manager's own activities and area and drafted separately so that one failing does not take the others, are what a court will enforce against a senior salesperson; a covenant that stops the manager working in the industry for a year is the one the court strikes out, and the contract should contain the ones that hold.

Garden leave and notice

The contract should set a notice period long enough to protect the business (a few months for a senior commercial role), with the statutory minimum under section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 as the floor, a garden leave clause allowing the employer to keep the manager away from customers, colleagues and systems during notice while paying them, a pay in lieu of notice clause, and a provision that the garden leave period reduces the post-termination covenants so that the total restraint stays reasonable; garden leave is the most reliable protection a business has against a departing salesperson, and the contract should provide it expressly, because it cannot be imposed without a clause.

Confidentiality, customer data and what leaves with the manager

The contract should define the confidential information the manager holds (customer lists, pricing, margins, pipeline, strategy), prohibit its use and disclosure during and after employment, require the manager to return all documents and data and to delete copies on leaving, prohibit the transfer of customer contacts to personal devices and accounts, and record that customer data is the employer's under the UK GDPR and that taking it is a breach of the contract and of data protection law; the manager's LinkedIn connections and the business's customer list are different things, and the contract should say which the manager may keep.

The service agreement option for the most senior roles

Where the manager is a statutory director, holds shares or options, has a say in strategy and carries duties under the Companies Act 2006, the right document is a senior or director service agreement rather than an employment contract: longer notice, fuller covenants, garden leave, provisions on board resignation and the interaction with any shareholders' agreement, and the handling of the director's duties and conflicts; the contract for a business development manager who is not a director contains the commercial protections at the width an employee's role justifies, and the written particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the handbook and the usual terms as in any contract.

What it costs

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Senior or director service agreement, £995. With properly drafted restrictive covenants and garden leave. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Can we stop our head of sales joining a competitor?

A non-compete is enforceable only where a non-solicitation of customers would not protect the business, and then for a short period. The contract relies first on non-solicitation, non-dealing and garden leave, which courts enforce, and adds a narrow non-compete where the role justifies it.

Our bonus is described as discretionary. Can we just not pay it?

Not without exercising the discretion rationally and in good faith, and not where the bonus has been paid on the same basis for years. The contract says what the discretion covers and the plan sets the rules, so that the decision can be defended.

Can we put a departing manager on garden leave?

Only if the contract contains a garden leave clause, which it does. During garden leave the manager is paid, remains bound by the contract and is kept away from customers and colleagues.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Employment contract for a sales employee on commission
• Restrictive covenants in a consultancy agreement

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.