Privacy Policy - Gardeners Ratcliff

Gardeners Ratcliff is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of all customers in area. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when you use our gardening services. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This policy applies to all Gardeners Ratcliff customers in area, including prospective customers, current customers, former customers, and anyone who interacts with us in relation to a gardening enquiry, quotation, booking, service visit, or complaint.

1. Who We Are

Gardeners Ratcliff provides gardening and related outdoor maintenance services. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and use in the course of our business. This means we determine why and how your personal data is processed.

We are committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently, and only for purposes that are relevant to our services.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity details such as your name and title;
Contact details such as address, telephone number, and email address;
Service details such as property access notes, service preferences, booking history, and instructions for work;
Billing and payment information where needed for invoicing and payment processing;
Communication records including messages, complaints, feedback, and service requests;
Technical information such as basic website or device information if you submit an enquiry online;
Special category data only where absolutely necessary and generally not as part of our standard services.

We do not intentionally collect more information than we need. Where we request any sensitive information, we will only do so when there is a clear legal basis and a valid operational reason.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data in the following ways:

when you make an enquiry or request a quotation;
when you book a service or enter into a customer relationship with us;
when you communicate with us by phone, email, messaging, or in person;
when you provide instructions, feedback, or complaints;
from payment and invoicing processes;
from third parties acting on your behalf, such as family members or property managers, where appropriate;
from publicly available sources only when necessary for business administration and within legal limits.

4. Why We Use Personal Data

We use personal data to deliver our services effectively and manage our relationship with you. This may include:

responding to enquiries and providing quotations;
arranging and delivering gardening services;
managing appointments, visits, and service schedules;
issuing invoices and processing payments;
maintaining internal records and customer history;
handling service queries, disputes, and complaints;
meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
improving our services and customer experience;
protecting our business, staff, customers, and property.

We will only use your data for purposes that are compatible with the reason it was collected.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Gardeners Ratcliff relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotations, managing bookings, carrying out work, and handling payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where necessary to comply with legal requirements, such as tax, accounting, record-keeping, and fraud prevention duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is in our legitimate interests to run and improve our business, provided that your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. Examples include maintaining customer records, managing service quality, and protecting against misuse or false claims.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where explicit permission is needed for optional communications or particular uses of data. If we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties that act as processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to use your data according to our instructions and must keep it secure and confidential.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and cloud storage providers;
accounting and bookkeeping services;
payment processing services;
communication and email service providers;
administrative support providers;
professionals who support legal, insurance, or compliance matters.

We may also share information where required by law, by a court order, or to protect our legal rights, property, or safety. We do not sell personal data.

7. International Transfers

Where a processor stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that adequate protections are in place. This may include approved contractual safeguards or other lawful transfer mechanisms required under data protection law.

8. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Customer and service records are kept for as long as the customer relationship continues and for a reasonable period afterwards;
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law;
Complaint and correspondence records are retained for as long as needed to resolve issues and protect our legal position;
Enquiry records that do not lead to a service may be retained for a shorter period and then securely deleted or anonymised.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or destroy it.

9. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, password protection, secure storage, and limiting data access to authorised personnel only.

Although we take data security seriously, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a personal data breach occurs that is likely to pose a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will act in accordance with our legal obligations.

10. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exceptions, these include:

The right to be informed about how your data is used;
The right of access to a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
The right to rectification if your data is inaccurate or incomplete;
The right to erasure in certain circumstances, also known as the right to be forgotten;
The right to restrict processing in certain situations;
The right to data portability where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means;
The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
Rights related to automated decision-making, where applicable.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the time limits set by law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

11. Marketing and Communications

We do not send marketing messages unless it is lawful to do so. If we ever rely on consent for marketing, you can withdraw that consent at any time. You may also object to certain types of communication where the law gives you that right.

12. Children’s Data

Our services are generally aimed at adults and property owners, occupiers, or authorised representatives. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal data unless it is necessary in a limited and lawful context. If we become aware that we have collected data in error, we will take appropriate steps to delete it where required.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or operational needs. The most current version will apply to our handling of your personal data.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your information.

14. Summary of Key Commitments

In summary, Gardeners Ratcliff will:

collect only the data needed to provide and manage our services;
process personal data on a valid lawful basis;
share data only with trusted processors or where legally required;
retain data only for as long as necessary;
protect personal data using reasonable security measures;
respect your rights under UK data protection law.

Your privacy matters to us. We are committed to handling your information responsibly, transparently, and in line with the requirements of GDPR and applicable UK law.