In Europe, non-compete clauses are practically illegal; the only time I believe they've ever held up in court is where one bank took on another's employee who had personal relationships with their richest customers specifically to steal the business.
As @steve_bult said, a similar thing applies in the UK in that if you want someone not to work for competitor then in theory for X months you have pay them "gardening leave" specifically so that they are still under contract; i.e. some form of compensation to tie them down
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