Hiring

Signal / Other / 8 August 2026

HMRC IR35 enforcement against UK sales contractor structures 2024-2026

HMRC compliance activity on off-payroll working (IR35) has intensified since the 2021 private-sector reform. UK sales organisations using contractor structures - particularly for senior IC and management roles - are increasingly subject to HMRC challenge. 2024-2026 enforcement focuses on the 'reality of the relationship' (Autoclenz test) rather than contract drafting alone.

Signal / Other / 7 August 2026

UK restrictive covenant enforceability is tightening 2023-2026

UK courts have grown notably stricter on restrictive covenant enforcement since 2023. Covenants that would have been enforced 10 years ago are increasingly being struck down or limited. The trend reflects judicial concern about over-broad employer drafting and the Tillman severance doctrine being applied more cautiously than employers initially expected.

Explained / Other / 6 August 2026

Garden leave enforceability in UK sales contracts in 2026

Garden leave is the practice of paying an employee through their notice period while requiring them not to work. UK case law on garden leave enforceability has evolved over the past 30 years; 2026 position is settled but specific. A practitioner walkthrough of when garden leave is enforceable, when it isn't, and how it interacts with post-employment restrictive covenants.

Garden leave is generally enforceable when the employer has a legitimate business interest, the duration is reasonable, and the employee continues to receive full contractual remuneration. Garden leave time should be set off against post-employment restrictive covenant duration; UK courts increasingly treat 'covenant + garden leave' stacking as unreasonable when the combined period exceeds what the legitimate interest requires.

Explained / Other / 4 August 2026

Office Angels v Rainer-Thomas: the foundational UK restrictive covenant test

The Court of Appeal's 1991 decision in Office Angels Ltd v Rainer-Thomas [1991] IRLR 214 established the modern UK test for enforceability of restrictive covenants in employment contracts: covenants must protect a legitimate proprietary interest and be no wider than reasonably necessary. The case remains foundational for UK sales restrictive covenants in 2026.

Restrictive covenants in UK sales contracts must (1) protect a legitimate proprietary interest of the employer (typically: customer connections, trade secrets, workforce stability), (2) be no wider in scope than reasonably necessary, and (3) be no longer in duration than reasonably necessary. Drafted broader, they are unenforceable. Drafted at the boundary, they hold.

Explained / Other / 3 August 2026

Autoclenz v Belcher: the 'reality of the relationship' test for UK sales hires

The Supreme Court's 2011 decision in Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41 established that contract terms which don't reflect the parties' true agreement are not binding. For UK sales organisations, the case is the foundation of the 'sham contract' test: written terms can be set aside where the operational reality contradicts them.

Autoclenz means written contract terms can be set aside where the operational reality contradicts them. Sales contractors with written 'right of substitution' clauses they cannot in practice exercise, or 'no minimum hours' clauses contradicted by actual scheduling, are at high risk of reclassification. The defensive structure: write contracts that match operational reality rather than relying on contract drafting to override it.

Explained / Other / 2 August 2026

Worker status in UK sales: Pimlico, Uber, and the IR35 environment

Two Supreme Court decisions (Pimlico Plumbers v Smith [2018] UKSC 29 and Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5) reshaped UK worker-status law. Combined with HMRC's tightened IR35 / off-payroll-working enforcement since 2021, the picture for UK sales organisations using contractor structures has changed materially. A walkthrough.

Sales contractors who look operationally like employees (integrated into the team, working set hours, using employer tools, with no genuine right of substitution) are increasingly likely to be reclassified as workers (or employees) by tribunals or HMRC. Tax exposure under IR35 follows. UK sales organisations relying on contractor structures should run an Autoclenz-style 'reality of the relationship' audit annually.

Explained / Other / 1 August 2026

Tillman v Egon Zehnder [2019] UKSC 32: what it changed about UK sales restrictive covenants

The Supreme Court's 2019 decision in Tillman v Egon Zehnder restated UK law on the severance of unenforceable provisions in restrictive covenants. For UK sales hires, it changed how the 'blue-pencil' doctrine applies and what employers can recover from over-broad covenant drafting. A practitioner walkthrough.

Tillman confirms severance is available where the unenforceable wording is removable without re-writing the covenant and without changing its character. Sales-side practical effect: an over-broad non-compete may now have its excessive limb severed and the remainder enforced, where pre-Tillman it might have been wholly unenforceable. Employers gained back some lost ground; employees lost some defensive scope.

Explained / SaaS / 25 July 2026

The first 30 days as a new UK sales manager

The first 30 days of a new sales-manager role establish the team's baseline expectations of how this manager will run their book. Done well, the first month produces a coaching cadence, a deal-review rhythm, and a forecast process that hold for 12-18 months. Done poorly, the first month produces a manager seen as performative or absent, and the team disengages.

Week 1: listen, don't act. Week 2: weekly 1:1 cadence locked in, deal-walkthrough format introduced. Week 3: forecast-call cadence locked in, first manager-facilitated deal review. Week 4: documented manager 'how I work' note shared with the team, expectations explicit.

Insight / SaaS / 23 July 2026

The case for editorial-led job boards in UK B2B sales

Job boards in UK B2B sales are dominated by vendor-led aggregators that monetise listing volume over listing quality. The result: high listing volumes, low candidate-to-fit conversion, recruiter-saturated fields, and broken trust on both sides. This Insight argues that editorial-led job boards - moderated by a publication with brand standards rather than by an aggregator chasing listing fees - are the structural fix.

Editorial-led job boards solve three problems vendor-led aggregators don't: listing-quality moderation, role-scope discipline, and editorial alignment between hiring brand and reader trust. The model isn't proven at scale yet but the structural argument holds; salespeople.co.uk's job board is one application of the thesis.

Explained / SaaS / 19 July 2026

Equity in UK sales offers: what RSUs, options, EMI, and growth shares actually mean

Equity in UK sales compensation packages takes several forms with materially different tax, vesting, and risk profiles. RSUs (mostly US-listed parents), unapproved share options (UK SMEs), EMI options (UK-incorporated startups under EMI scheme), and growth shares (sometimes used at growth stage). A practitioner walkthrough of what each is, what each costs, and what to negotiate.

EMI options are the most tax-efficient instrument for UK sales hires at qualifying companies (CGT on disposal rather than income tax on exercise, subject to conditions). Unapproved share options are taxed as income at exercise; RSUs are taxed as income at vesting. The instrument type matters more than the headline number.

Insight / SaaS / 13 July 2026

The end of the SDR factory: how UK B2B outbound is reorganising

The 2018-2024 UK SaaS playbook scaled SDR factories: 30, 50, 80 SDRs running high-volume cadences against pre-built lists, paired loosely with AEs. By 2026 most UK SaaS teams over 100 staff have either dismantled the factory or are dismantling it. This Insight argues the SDR-factory model is structurally obsolete, walks through the four reasons, and describes the converging replacement organisational shape.

The SDR factory is being replaced by a tighter SDR-AE pair structure (1:1 or 1:2 ratios), with SDRs running lower-volume per-prospect-personalised outbound and shifting their metric from meetings-booked to qualified-pipeline-passed. AEs are absorbing 30-50 percent of their own outbound on key target accounts. Teams that haven't restructured are losing ground each quarter to teams that have.

Snapshot / SaaS / 28 May 2026

Inbound qualification team structure in UK SaaS in 2026

Three patterns at 50-300 person scale: dedicated inbound SDR pod, AE-direct at high intent, marketing-ops triage. Each fits a different volume and AE-seniority profile. Hire for fast-conversion comfort; pay against AE-accepted-pipeline, not meetings-booked.

Watch AE-accepted-pipeline per inbound SDR per week as the metric. Marketing teams reporting volume up with sales reporting flat AE-accepted-pipeline is the structural failure mode.

Snapshot / SaaS / 23 May 2026

The Sales Development Rep role in UK SaaS in 2026

The SDR role in UK SaaS in 2026 has changed materially from 2022. Volume games have stopped working; the metric is shifting from meetings-booked to qualified-pipeline-passed; AI-assisted prospect research is baseline. Comp pattern, hiring criteria, and the 18-24 month SDR-to-AE promotion timing.

Hire SDRs on coachability, process discipline, and genuine curiosity. SDR-to-AE promotion lands at 18-24 months in UK SaaS in 2026; faster is a yellow flag. The volume-cadence playbook is dating; lower-volume, more-personalised outbound is converging across UK SaaS teams.

Snapshot / SaaS / 22 May 2026

The Account Executive role in UK SaaS in 2026

The AE role in UK SaaS in 2026 has narrowed from the 2020-vintage 'full-funnel' position. Discovery has moved up the funnel, procurement workstream is structurally part of the role, and forecasting credibility is the single most-watched manager metric. Comp pattern, traits recruiters screen on, and where the role is going.

Hire AEs on deal-walkthrough specificity, forecast literacy, and honest postmortem. Account-based outbound is shifting back to the AE; the pure-closer AE role is dating. AI-assisted call review is now standard. Specific OTE figures defer to the UK Sales Comp Report.

Explained / SaaS / 19 May 2026

The first 30, 60, and 90 days as a new AE in UK SaaS

The first 90 days of a new AE in UK SaaS sets the trajectory for the next 18 months. A standard 30-60-90 plan structure that works for IC AE roles at 50-300 person SaaS, what managers most often get wrong (passive onboarding, no deal-walkthrough requirement, late forecast-credibility assessment), and what AEs most often get wrong (over-investment in product, under-investment in role-play).

By day 30: fluency in product, demo, MEDDPICC. By day 60: independent execution, 5-8 first meetings per week, forecast participation. By day 90: pipeline at 1x quarter coverage with 25 percent at MEDDPICC stage 3+, deal walkthrough completed. The 30-60-90 should be a one-page document signed by manager and AE on day 1.

Explained / SaaS / 13 May 2026

Designing a sales hiring scorecard for UK B2B in 2026

Without a hiring scorecard, sales hiring is pattern-matching to last week's conversations. With one, it becomes audit-able and meaningfully better at predicting first-year quota attainment. A practitioner walkthrough of the five sections, the deal-walkthrough round (the highest-signal interview), and four UK-specific gotchas.

Five-section scorecard (mission / outcomes / competencies / behavioural cultural anchors / disqualifiers) written before sourcing. Deal walkthrough as the structurally highest-signal interview. UK gotchas: right-to-work, pay-transparency expectations, three-month notice, candidate feedback obligations.