The Short Version
You’ve received a settlement agreement. Your employer is legally required to pay for your independent legal advice. That means our review costs you nothing. We review the document the same day, explain every clause in plain English, and advise whether the offer is fair. If it isn’t, we can negotiate on your behalf. No office visit required: phone or video works just as well, and faster.
Why the Quality of Your Legal Advice Matters
A settlement agreement is not a formality. It is a legally binding contract in which you waive your statutory employment rights permanently. Unfair dismissal. Discrimination. Whistleblowing. Once signed, those claims are gone. That is the legal reality, and it is why the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires you to take independent legal advice before a settlement agreement can be binding at all.
The requirement for independent advice exists because Parliament recognised that employees are at an information disadvantage. Your employer prepared the agreement. Their lawyers drafted the clauses. They know exactly what they are asking you to give up. You deserve someone in your corner who knows just as much.
The short answer: not all solicitors are equal on this. A general practice firm that handles conveyancing, wills, and the occasional employment matter will review your agreement differently to a solicitor who reviews settlement agreements every working day. The clauses that matter most, the restrictive covenants, the tax treatment, the confidentiality provisions, the reference wording, are exactly the areas where specialist knowledge counts.
Restrictive Covenants
Post-termination restrictions can limit where you work next, for how long, and with whom. Poorly drafted or overly broad covenants need challenging, not accepting.
Tax Treatment
Payments in lieu of notice are taxable. Compensation for loss of office can have a £30,000 tax-free element. Getting this wrong costs you real money.
Reference Clauses
What your employer agrees to say about you in future references is negotiable. An agreed reference wording in the agreement gives you certainty no verbal promise can.
Confidentiality Terms
Settlement agreements routinely contain mutual confidentiality obligations. You should understand exactly what you can and cannot say before you sign.
Our Specialism, in Plain Numbers
We don’t dabble in employment law. It’s the only area of law we practise. Settlement agreement review is a core part of what we do, week in, week out. That volume matters.
employment law exclusively
ReviewSolicitors
review and sign-off
day
for standard agreements
Tom Street is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No. 566718). All advice meets the independence requirement under section 203 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
How the Review Works
Five steps. No office visit. No ambiguity about what happens next.
Upload Your Agreement
Use our secure upload system. You don’t need to travel to an office in Birmingham city centre or anywhere else. Upload from home, your phone, or wherever suits you. We confirm receipt the same day.
We Review the Agreement Same Day
We read every clause. We check the payment terms and their tax treatment, assess any restrictive covenants, review the confidentiality provisions, check the reference wording, and calculate whether the financial offer is within a fair range for your circumstances.
Consultation by Phone or Video
A 30 to 60 minute call in which we explain everything we found. Plain English, no jargon. You ask every question you have. We give you a clear view of your options, including whether the offer is worth accepting as is, and whether there’s a case for pushing back.
Negotiate if the Offer Isn’t Right (Optional)
If the offer is below what it should be, we can negotiate on your behalf. Our fee for this is 20% of any increase we secure. If we don’t improve the offer, you pay nothing for the negotiation. The review and sign-off remain free regardless.
Sign Off and Complete
Once you decide to proceed, we confirm in writing that you have received independent legal advice, as required by law. The agreement becomes legally binding. Your employer can process the payment. Done.
What We Offer Birmingham Employees
Same-Day Review
Upload in the morning, reviewed by the afternoon. When your employer gives you a deadline, we work to it.
Free to You
Your employer pays our review and sign-off fee (£350 to £500+VAT). You pay nothing. This is a legal requirement, not a gesture.
Specialist Only
Employment law is all we do. We review settlement agreements every day, not occasionally. That experience is the difference.
Negotiation Available
If your offer is low, we can negotiate. 20% of the increase we secure, nothing if we don’t improve the figure.
Specialist vs Local Birmingham Solicitor: The Real Difference
Birmingham has plenty of solicitors. Most are generalists. Here’s what that means in practice for your settlement agreement review.
| What Matters | Tom Street & Co. | Typical Birmingham Generalist |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement agreement volume | Reviewed daily, every week | Handled occasionally |
| Assessment tools | Eligibility checker, clause scanner, fair value estimator | Standard legal review only |
| Tribunal representation | Available if settlement isn’t right | Often no tribunal practice |
| Pricing | Fully transparent, employer-paid review | Often hourly rates (£200 to £350+/hour) |
| Convenience | Phone or video, no office visit needed | Often requires visiting a city centre office |
| Speed | Same-day for standard agreements | Appointment availability varies |
(And no, you don’t need a Birmingham office address. Settlement agreement reviews are conducted remotely as standard practice across the profession. What you need is the right expertise, not the right postcode.)
Birmingham’s Employment Landscape
Birmingham is the UK’s second city, and its employment market reflects that scale. Settlement agreements here arise across every sector, from hospital wards to financial services floors to manufacturing plants. These are the employers and industries where we see the highest volume of settlement agreement activity.
NHS and Healthcare
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS trusts in England. Add Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, and you have a healthcare workforce exceeding 20,000 people. Performance management processes, capability procedures, stress-related absences, and departmental restructuring all generate settlement agreements in the NHS.
Financial and Professional Services
HSBC UK relocated its headquarters to Birmingham, making it one of the city’s largest single private employers. PwC, Deloitte, Pinsent Masons, and the broader Colmore Row professional services district mean Birmingham has a substantial white-collar workforce. Senior exits, bonus disputes, and restructuring programmes in financial services regularly produce more complex, higher-value settlement agreements.
Manufacturing and Automotive
Jaguar Land Rover’s Castle Bromwich plant is a major regional employer, with thousands more employed across the supply chain. Cadbury’s Bournville site remains active. Manufacturing redundancies, plant changes, and site restructuring all produce settlement agreements, often under time pressure when production schedules are involved.
Public Sector and Local Government
Birmingham City Council employs around 10,000 people. Given the council’s well-publicised financial challenges in recent years, restructuring and redundancy processes have been common. Public sector employers often follow well-documented processes and prefer settlement agreements to the reputational and financial risks of tribunal proceedings.
Universities and Higher Education
The University of Birmingham, Aston University, and Birmingham City University together represent a significant employer base across academic and professional services roles. Fixed-term contract endings, departmental reorganisations, and capability procedures in higher education frequently lead to settlement agreements, often with complex terms around ongoing duties and publication rights.
Transport and Retail
National Express (Mobico Group), headquartered in Digbeth, is a major transport employer. The Bullring, Grand Central, and the Mailbox provide thousands of retail and hospitality jobs. Both sectors have experienced significant workforce changes, with settlement agreements frequently used to manage redundancies and role changes.
Tools No Local Birmingham Firm Offers
We have invested in technology that gives you a clearer picture before you even speak to a solicitor. Use them free, before you commit to anything.
Settlement Agreement Offer Checker
Check whether your settlement offer is fair. Enter your salary, length of service, and the reason for the settlement, and see how your offer compares to typical ranges. The tool also shows your minimum entitlements and whether there is a case for pushing back before you invest time in a formal review.
Check Your Offer →Settlement Agreement Tax Calculator
See what you will actually take home. Not everything in your settlement is tax-free. Our calculator breaks down your offer, showing which payments are exempt, which are taxed as earnings, and how the £30,000 threshold works. Uses current 2025/26 rates.
Calculate Take-Home Pay →Settlement Agreement Clause Explainer
Understand what you are signing. Our clause explainer walks through the 10 most common clause types in plain English, showing what is normal and flagging the red flags a solicitor would look for. Restrictive covenants, confidentiality terms, tax indemnities, and waiver clauses are all covered clearly before your consultation.
Explore the Clauses →General practice firms serving Birmingham do not invest in specialist tools like these. Employment law is a fraction of what they do. For us, it is everything.
Pricing: No Surprises
Three services. Clear prices. Nothing hidden.
Review & Sign-Off
to you (employer pays £350 to £500+VAT)
- Full review of every clause
- Phone or video consultation
- Legal sign-off making agreement binding
- Same-day turnaround
Negotiation Service
of the increase we secure only
- We negotiate on your behalf
- 20% of additional amount secured
- Nothing if we don’t improve the offer
- Success-based, fully transparent
Tribunal Backup
if the settlement isn’t right for you
- If settlement should be rejected
- We can pursue a tribunal claim instead
- Midlands (West) Employment Tribunal
- 20% success fee from award
How the employer contribution works: Your employer is required by law to pay a contribution towards your independent legal advice. The typical contribution is £350 to £500+VAT. Our review and sign-off fee falls within this range, meaning you pay nothing. If you opt for negotiation on top of the review, the negotiation fee comes from any increase we secure, not from your pocket upfront.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a Birmingham-based solicitor to review my settlement agreement?
No. Settlement agreement reviews are conducted remotely as standard practice. Phone and video consultations are just as effective as sitting in an office on Colmore Row, and considerably less hassle. What matters is the specialist expertise of the solicitor reviewing your agreement, not their city centre address.
Which Employment Tribunal covers Birmingham?
The Midlands (West) Employment Tribunal covers Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region. It is located at Centre City Tower, 13th Floor, 5-7 Hill Street, Birmingham B5 4UU, telephone 0300 323 0196. If your settlement agreement isn’t appropriate and you decide to pursue a claim instead, your case would be heard there. We represent at the Midlands (West) Tribunal on a no win, no fee basis where the claim has merit.
How quickly can you review my settlement agreement?
Same day for standard agreements. Upload in the morning and we can typically complete the review and consultation by the afternoon. If your employer has given you a tight deadline, tell us: we work around it. Complex agreements with unusual provisions may take slightly longer, but we’ll always be clear about timescales upfront.
I work at University Hospitals Birmingham. Can you help with NHS settlement agreements?
Yes. NHS settlement agreements have particular features worth understanding: they often arise from capability or performance processes, and the confidentiality clauses can be broader than those in private sector agreements. We review NHS settlement agreements regularly, including from UHB, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals, and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s. The review is free to you; the trust pays the contribution.
Why does my employer pay for my legal advice?
Because the law requires it. A settlement agreement is only legally binding if the employee has received independent legal advice from a qualified solicitor. Your employer needs the agreement to be valid, so paying for your advice is a legal necessity, not a favour. The contribution is typically £350 to £500+VAT and covers our full review and sign-off service.
Can you negotiate with Birmingham employers?
Yes. If our review suggests the offer is below what your circumstances justify, we can negotiate on your behalf. This applies to all Birmingham employers, from large public sector organisations like Birmingham City Council to private companies like HSBC UK or Jaguar Land Rover. Our negotiation fee is 20% of any increase we secure. If the offer doesn’t improve, you pay nothing for the negotiation.
What if I’m not sure whether to accept the settlement agreement?
That’s exactly what the review is for. After we’ve gone through the agreement, you’ll have a clear picture of whether the terms are fair, whether the financial offer is reasonable, and what your alternatives are. You are not obliged to sign. If the settlement isn’t right, you can reject it. We can then advise on whether a tribunal claim is viable on a no win, no fee basis.
Do restrictive covenants in my settlement agreement stop me working in Birmingham?
They can, if they are drafted broadly enough and are enforceable. Restrictive covenants preventing you from working for competitors, soliciting clients, or contacting former colleagues need careful scrutiny. We assess whether covenants are reasonable in scope and duration, and advise on whether they need challenging or can be accepted. Broad, poorly drafted restrictions can be unenforceable, but that needs a specialist view, not an assumption.
How do I know if my settlement offer is fair?
Start with our free Fair Value Estimator before the review. It gives you a range based on your salary, length of service, and circumstances. Then use the full review to get a specialist’s view. “Fair” depends on what claims you might have, how strong they are, and what your employer is trying to achieve. We give you an honest assessment, not an encouraging one.
What if I live outside Birmingham but work there?
Makes no difference. Our service is fully remote, so it doesn’t matter whether you live in Solihull, Wolverhampton, Coventry, or further afield. What matters is where you work and, if relevant, which tribunal would have jurisdiction over a claim. For Birmingham workplaces, that’s the Midlands (West) Employment Tribunal.
Related Guides and Local Services
Complete Settlement Agreement Guide
Everything you need to know: your rights, the process, tax treatment, negotiation, and what to watch for.
Settlement Agreement Negotiation
When to negotiate, how it works, what typical increases look like, and transparent pricing for our negotiation service.
Your Settlement Agreement Rights
Which rights you waive, which protections you keep, and what employers can legally ask for in a settlement agreement.
Settlement Agreement Solicitors Bristol
The same specialist service for employees in Bristol and the South West.
Ready to Move Forward?
Upload your agreement today. Same-day review, free to you, no office visit required. Birmingham employees deserve specialist advice. Here’s how to get it.
Legal Disclaimer: The content on this page is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Employment law and settlement agreements involve complex individual circumstances. You should obtain independent legal advice specific to your situation before signing any settlement agreement. Tom Street & Co. is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 566718). Nothing on this page creates a solicitor-client relationship. Settlement agreement values and outcomes vary significantly depending on individual circumstances, employer, and applicable law.
Sources and Further Reading
- GOV.UK: Midlands (West) Employment Tribunal
- GOV.UK: Employment Tribunal offices and venues
- legislation.gov.uk: Employment Rights Act 1996, section 203 (compromise agreements)
- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust: uhb.nhs.uk
- Internal resource: Complete Settlement Agreement Guide
Tom Street
Employment Solicitor & Founder, Tom Street & Co.
Tom Street is a specialist employment solicitor with over 15 years’ experience advising employees across the UK. He reviews settlement agreements daily, helping employees from Birmingham’s NHS trusts, financial services firms, universities, and manufacturing sector understand their rights, assess whether offers are fair, and move on with confidence. Tom founded Tom Street & Co. with a clear aim: expert employment law advice, transparently priced and genuinely accessible. He is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 566718).