Dear Colleagues,

A year ago, I 'volunteered' to leave my job in return for a nice wadge
of money.  This of course included a detailed Compromise Agreement,
including a clause for an 'agreed reference'.

My problem now is that I have been invited to interview by a potential
new employer, but my old employer, despite the legal obligations
incumbent upon them, is dragging its heels over supplying the
references.  It's more down to inefficiency than malice, but what
recourse do I have if they fail to supply an agreed reference by the
time the interview takes place?

I presume some sort of loss would have to be demonstrated by getting
the potential new employer to say they would have hired me if they had
a satisfactory reference to hand?

Very many thanks for any advice you can offer.