Gardeners North End Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners North End collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in our service area. It is intended to meet the requirements of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable data protection laws. By using our services or contacting us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners North End customers, and individuals who contact or interact with Gardeners North End, within our service area. It covers personal data collected through enquiries, quotations, bookings, the provision of gardening and related services, and general customer communications, whether in person, by post, or through other communication channels.

Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you when you engage with Gardeners North End:

Identification and contact details, such as your full name, postal address, property location, and other basic contact details needed to communicate with you.

Service and contract details, such as information about your garden or outdoor space, service preferences, schedules, access instructions, and any information necessary to prepare and fulfil quotations and service agreements.

Billing and payment information, such as information necessary to issue invoices, record payments, and maintain financial records. We do not store full payment card details where payments are processed through third-party payment providers.

Communication records, such as details of enquiries, correspondence and notes relating to your interactions with us, including feedback, complaints, and other messages you send to us.

Usage and technical data, where applicable, such as limited information related to how you use any online forms or digital tools we may provide, including date and time of enquiries and basic technical logs for security and diagnostic purposes.

How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request information, ask for a quotation, book a service, or otherwise communicate with us. This may be done in person, by post, or through other communication methods you choose to use.

We may also receive personal data about you from third parties where this is necessary to provide services, for example if another person refers you to us or acts on your behalf, or where we receive limited information from business partners or contractors involved in providing our services.

Lawful Basis for Processing

Gardeners North End processes your personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so under applicable data protection laws. Depending on the circumstances, the lawful basis will be one or more of the following:

Contract: We process personal data where it is necessary to prepare, enter into, or perform a contract with you. This includes handling enquiries, providing quotations, scheduling and delivering gardening services, and managing payments.

Legal obligation: We process personal data where it is necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as tax, accounting, and record keeping obligations.

Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, and where your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include managing and improving our services, responding to enquiries and complaints, maintaining security, and protecting our business against fraud or misuse.

Consent: In limited cases we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional communication or where consent is required by law. Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

How We Use Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations tailored to your property and service requirements.

To plan, schedule and deliver gardening and related services at your property, including arranging access and understanding any specific instructions or preferences.

To manage our relationship with you, including sending service-related communications, updates about bookings, and information about material changes to our terms or policies.

To issue invoices, process payments, maintain financial records and handle any queries or disputes about payments.

To manage and improve our operations, including quality control, training, and service development.

To comply with legal obligations, respond to valid requests from authorities where required by law, and protect our legal rights, including in connection with potential or actual legal claims.

Data Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to process your personal data according to our documented instructions and are required to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.

Typical categories of processors we may use include:

Service management and scheduling providers that help us organise appointments and manage our workflow.

Payment and accounting service providers that assist with billing, payment processing, and financial record keeping.

Information technology and hosting providers that support the secure operation of our systems, storage, and communications.

Professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, who may need limited access to personal data in the course of providing their services, subject to duties of confidentiality.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. Where required by law, we may also disclose personal data to public authorities or regulators.

International Transfers

If any of our processors or service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection law. These safeguards may include the use of recognised standard contractual clauses or ensuring that the destination country has been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection.

Data Retention

Gardeners North End keeps personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and to meet our legal, regulatory, accounting, and reporting requirements.

In general, we retain customer records and related service information for a period aligned with applicable limitation periods for legal claims and statutory record keeping obligations. After the relevant retention period has expired, we will securely delete or anonymise your personal data so that it can no longer be associated with you.

The specific retention period may vary depending on the type of data, the nature of our relationship with you, and the requirements of applicable laws.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include limiting access to personal data to personnel and processors who have a genuine business need to know, using secure methods for storing and transmitting data where appropriate, and maintaining internal policies and training to promote responsible data handling.

While we take reasonable steps to safeguard your personal data, no system can be completely secure. You should take care to share only the information that is necessary for us to provide our services and to notify us promptly if you suspect any misuse of your personal data related to our services.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, and subject to certain conditions and exemptions, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation as to whether we process personal data about you and, if so, to obtain a copy of your personal data and certain related information.

Right to rectification: You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you is corrected or updated.

Right to erasure: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.

Right to restriction of processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as while we verify the accuracy of the data or consider an objection you have raised.

Right to object: You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to our processing of your personal data that is based on legitimate interests. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or where the processing is required for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Right to data portability: Where processing is based on consent or on a contract and carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller, where this is technically feasible.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Exercising Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, or if you have any questions or concerns about how Gardeners North End handles your personal data, you may contact us using your preferred communication method. We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to anyone who does not have the right to receive it.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you are not satisfied with our response to your request or with the way we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve your concerns.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our data processing practices, or applicable laws. Any changes will be effective from the date the revised Privacy Policy is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.