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Written by Brad Askew
Legal Tech Founder
Civil & Commercial Law background · Founder of LegalDocuments.co.uk
We’re not a law firm — we help you find the right legal support. For advice on your situation, speak to a legal adviser or find a solicitor.
Updated April 2026 · England & Wales
BA
Written by Brad Askew Legal Tech Founder
Civil & Commercial Law background · Founder of LegalDocuments.co.uk
Updated May 2026
·
England & Wales
Confidential business information is often one of the most valuable things a company owns. A secret formula, a client list built up over years, pricing models, internal processes, research data, these can matter far more than any physical asset. Yet many businesses only think seriously about protecting this information after something has gone wrong: a senior hire walks out with a spreadsheet, a supplier starts competing, or a pitch deck turns up somewhere it shouldn't.
This guide walks through how trade secrets are treated under UK law, what qualifies for protection, and the practical steps businesses can take to keep sensitive information safe. It is written for founders, directors and managers who need a working understanding rather than an academic one, so you know where the lines are, what courts tend to care about, and where it pays to get a second opinion before acting.
Overview
A trade secret, in UK law, is confidential commercial information that gives its holder a competitive advantage and has been treated as confidential. The main legislation is the Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018, which sit alongside the long-standing common law of breach of confidence.
Both continue to apply in England and Wales, and in practice claimants often rely on both at once. Unlike patents or registered trade marks, trade secrets are not registered anywhere. There is no application, no certificate, and no public record.
Protection arises from how the information is handled, whether it is genuinely kept secret, whether it has commercial value because it is secret, and whether the business has taken sensible steps to keep it that way. That last point is where many businesses stumble.
Information casually shared across an open shared drive, or handed to contractors without any confidentiality wording, may lose the legal protection it would otherwise attract. Trade secret protection, in other words, is earned through behaviour rather than granted by a form.
Key steps
01
Work out what you actually need to protect. Not everything confidential is a trade secret. Sit down and list the information that genuinely gives your business an edge, formulations, algorithms, supplier terms, customer data, internal margins, unpublished research. Separate this from information that is merely private but not commercially valuable. This exercise is the foundation for everything else, and it is worth doing in writing so the list can be reviewed as the business changes. 2. **Control who can access what.** Once you know what matters, restrict access to it. Use permission settings on shared drives, separate folders for sensitive material, and a clear rule that access is granted on a need-to-know basis rather than by default. Keep a record of who has been given access to what. If a dispute ever arises, being able to show deliberate access control is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that the information was treated as a trade secret. 3. **Put confidentiality in writing.** Employment contracts, consultancy agreements, supplier terms and NDAs should all contain clear confidentiality wording that survives the end of the relationship. Generic boilerplate is better than nothing, but targeted wording, identifying the types of information considered confidential, tends to carry more weight. Review these documents periodically, because clauses drafted for a three-person startup may not fit a fifty-person business handling far more sensitive material. 4. **Train the people who handle the information.** Most trade secret leaks are not dramatic acts of espionage. They happen when someone forwards an email to a personal account, posts in the wrong channel, or takes files to a new job without thinking. Short, practical training on what counts as confidential and how to handle it reduces this risk significantly. It also helps demonstrate that reasonable steps were taken, a point the court will look at if you ever need to enforce your rights. 5. **Have a plan for when something goes wrong.** If you suspect a trade secret has been taken or misused, speed matters. Preserve evidence, emails, access logs, device records, before anything is deleted. Take legal input early, because remedies like injunctions depend on acting quickly. Avoid confronting the suspected party before you understand the position, as this can destroy evidence or trigger a race to the courts.
Common questions
QWhat is the difference between a trade secret and confidential information?
In practice, trade secrets are a subset of confidential information. All trade secrets are confidential, but not all confidential information qualifies as a trade secret. To be a trade secret under the 2018 Regulations, the information must also have commercial value because it is secret and be subject to reasonable steps to keep it secret. General confidentiality obligations under common law can cover a wider pool of information, including material that doesn't meet the full trade secret test.
QDo I need to register a trade secret?
No. Unlike patents, designs or trade marks, trade secrets are not registered. Protection depends entirely on how the information is handled. This has advantages, no renewal fees, no expiry, no public disclosure, but it also means protection can be lost the moment the information becomes public, whether through a leak, reverse engineering or publication. Once genuinely in the public domain, trade secret status cannot usually be reclaimed.
QCan an employee take knowledge with them to a new job?
This is a common flashpoint. Employees are generally free to use the general skills and experience they have developed, but they cannot take or use specific trade secrets belonging to a former employer. The line between the two is often contested. Written employment terms, any post-termination restrictions, and what the employee was told about confidentiality all feed into the analysis. It is an area where early input from an experienced adviser can help.
QWhat remedies are available if a trade secret is misused?
Remedies can include injunctions to stop further use or disclosure, orders for delivery up or destruction of materials, damages or an account of profits, and in some cases corrective measures against products that embody the misused secret. The court will look at how valuable the information was, how the misuse occurred, and the impact on the claimant. Acting promptly is important, particularly where an injunction is being sought.
QDo NDAs actually work?
A well-drafted NDA is useful but not a complete shield. It creates a contractual obligation, which helps with enforcement and sets expectations, but it only works if the other side respects it, and proving breach can be difficult. NDAs work best as part of a wider approach that includes access controls, training and careful handling of the information itself. A signed NDA combined with sloppy internal practices may not stand up well in court.
QHow long does trade secret protection last?
There is no fixed term. Protection continues as long as the information remains secret, has commercial value because of that secrecy, and is subject to reasonable efforts to keep it confidential. In theory this can last indefinitely, the classic example being long-standing product formulations. In practice, most commercial information has a shorter useful life, and businesses should review what is still worth protecting as priorities change.
QDoes UK trade secret law still follow the EU Directive after Brexit?
The Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018 remain in force in the UK and were originally made to implement the EU Trade Secrets Directive. Post-Brexit, the UK is no longer bound to track future EU developments, but the 2018 Regulations continue to apply alongside the common law of breach of confidence. For most practical purposes, the framework businesses deal with day-to-day has not changed significantly.
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Brad Askew Legal Tech Founder
Brad has a background in civil and commercial law and founded LegalDocuments.co.uk to make clear, reliable legal information accessible to everyone. This site is not a law firm and does not provide regulated legal advice.
Legal disclaimer
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. We are not solicitors. For advice on your specific situation, please consult a qualified solicitor.
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