Privacy Policy

Gardeners The Hale Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners The Hale collects, uses, stores and shares personal information about its customers within the Gardeners The Hale service area. It also explains your rights under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws. This policy applies to all customers and prospective customers who live in or request services in our operating area.

Who we are and scope of this policy

Gardeners The Hale provides gardening and related services to residential and commercial customers in its local area. In this Privacy Policy, references to we, us or our mean Gardeners The Hale as the organisation that decides how and why your personal data is processed. This policy applies to all personal data we handle in connection with enquiries, quotations, service delivery, invoicing and ongoing customer relationships in our service area.

Personal data we collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you when you make an enquiry, request a quote, enter into a contract with us, or otherwise communicate with us:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, postal address, service property address, and any other basic contact information you choose to provide. Communication records, including details you provide by telephone, in person, by post or via any electronic messaging you use to contact us, and notes of our conversations or visits related to your enquiry or booking. Service and contract details, such as the type of gardening services requested or provided, frequency of visits, access instructions, and any preferences or special requirements you tell us about. Billing and payment information, such as records of invoices issued, amounts paid, payment dates and basic payment method details, but we do not store full card numbers or security codes. Usage and technical information, where applicable, such as the date and time of your enquiry, how you found our services and limited technical information automatically provided by your device when you contact us online.

How we collect your data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quotation, book a service, enter into a contract or communicate with us in relation to our services. We may also receive information about you from third parties where this is necessary for providing services, for example if a landlord, letting agent or family member provides your contact details so that we can arrange gardening services at a property you occupy. In such cases we will treat this information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Lawful bases for processing your data

We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Performance of a contract, where processing is necessary to provide our gardening services, respond to your enquiries, prepare and issue quotations, manage our agreement with you, arrange site visits and complete the agreed work. Compliance with legal obligations, where we need to retain certain records for tax, accounting or other legal requirements. Legitimate interests, where we process your data for our reasonable business purposes, such as managing our relationship with you, improving our services, keeping basic records of past work, or dealing with complaints, provided that these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests. Consent, where we ask for your explicit permission for specific activities that are not covered by the other lawful bases, for example if we wish to send you optional marketing about new services. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

How we use your personal data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

To handle enquiries, provide information about our services, and prepare quotations tailored to your property and requirements. To enter into and perform contracts with you, including scheduling and delivering gardening services, accessing the property as agreed, and communicating about the work. To issue invoices, process payments, manage accounts, and maintain appropriate accounting records. To manage our ongoing relationship with you, including responding to queries, rescheduling visits, handling feedback and resolving any complaints. To maintain internal records of services provided and work completed at specific properties, including basic historical information needed for future visits. To protect our legal rights, prevent fraud, and manage potential or actual disputes. To comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

Data sharing and processors

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These providers may include companies that supply accounting or invoicing software, secure electronic storage or backup services, and other business support services needed to run our operations. When we use processors, we ensure they only process your personal data on our written instructions, keep it secure, and do not use it for their own purposes. We may also share limited information with professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where necessary for accounting, tax or legal purposes, and with law enforcement or regulatory authorities where required by law or to protect our legal rights. We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

International data transfers

Where any of our service providers or systems are located outside the United Kingdom, or store data in another country, we will take appropriate safeguards to protect your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. This may include using standard contractual clauses or ensuring the recipient is in a country that provides an adequate level of protection for personal data.

Data retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. In general, we will retain:

Contact details, service records and communication history for as long as you remain a customer and for a reasonable period afterwards to handle queries or potential disputes. Contract and invoicing records for the period required by tax and accounting laws. Information held on the basis of consent, such as optional marketing preferences, until you withdraw your consent or we no longer need it for the stated purpose. When personal data is no longer required, we will delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you.

How we protect your data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who need it to perform their job or contractual obligations and training staff and contractors about data protection responsibilities. While we take reasonable steps to safeguard your data, no system can be completely secure and you should take care when sending personal data to us using any communication method.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, you have the right to:

Access your personal data and receive a copy of the information we hold about you. Request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete personal data. Request erasure of your personal data where there is no good reason for us to continue processing it, for example where it is no longer needed for the original purpose and we have no legal obligation to retain it. Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests and you believe your rights override those interests. Request restriction of processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while we check its accuracy or consider an objection. Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to another organisation in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format where the processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to ask you for information to confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the data. We will respond to all valid requests within the timescales required by law.

Complaints and further information

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you can raise them with us using your usual contact method for Gardeners The Hale. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority in the United Kingdom. We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law or our practices. The version available to you at the time of your enquiry or booking will apply to our handling of your data from that point forward, and any significant changes will be clearly communicated where appropriate.