Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Grounds Risks (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses and protects your personal data when you visit groundsrisks.co.uk, contact us, or use our services. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data fairly, lawfully and transparently in line with UK data protection law (UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018, and related regulations).

By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read this policy. If you do not agree, please discontinue using our website.

2. Who we are and how to contact us

• Business name: Grounds Risks
• Website: https://www.groundsrisks.co.uk
• Email: projects@groundsrisks.co.uk
• Postal address: Company name, Unit 38, 3a Bridgewater Street, Liverpool, L1 0AR
• Telephone: 0800 779 7725

We are the “data controller” for the personal data we process in connection with this website and our services.
If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, please contact us using the details above.

3. What data we collect

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

1. Identity and contact data

Name, job title, organisation, email address, phone number, postal address.

2. Business and enquiry data

Information you provide when you contact us (e.g. details about your business, your query or project, risk or grounds related information you share).

3. Website and technical data

IP address, browser type and version, device identifiers, time zone setting and location, operating system, pages visited, time spent on pages, referral source and other technical information collected via cookies and similar technologies.

4. Usage data

Information about how you use our website and services (e.g. pages viewed, links clicked, files downloaded).

5. Marketing and communication preferences

Your preferences for receiving marketing from us and your communication preferences.
We do not intentionally collect special category data (such as health data, political opinions or religious beliefs) via the website. If you choose to share such information, you do so at your own discretion.

4. How we collect your data

We collect personal data in the following ways:

Directly from you

• When you fill in a contact form.
• When you email or call us.
• When you sign up to receive updates or marketing.
• When you provide information to us in the course of our services.

Automatically

• Through cookies and similar technologies when you visit our website (see our Cookie Policy for details).

From third parties (where applicable)

• Analytics providers (e.g. Google Analytics).
• Referrals or partners who have your permission to share your details with us.

5. Why we use your data (purposes and legal bases)

We only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Typically, we rely on the following legal bases:

1. To respond to enquiries and provide our services

• Purpose: To respond to your messages, provide quotes, deliver our services, and manage our relationship with you.
• Legal basis: Performance of a contract or taking steps at your request before entering into a contract; our legitimate interests in running and developing our business.

2. To operate and improve our website

• Purpose: To administer the website, troubleshoot, analyse usage, keep the site secure and improve content and user experience.
• Legal basis: Our legitimate interests in operating an effective and secure website.

3. To send you marketing communications

• Purpose: To send you information about our services, updates, insights and events we think may be relevant to you.
• Legal basis: Your consent (where required) or our legitimate interests in promoting and developing our business. You can opt out at any time.

4. To comply with legal and regulatory obligations

• Purpose: To meet our legal, tax and regulatory obligations, respond to lawful requests from authorities and enforce our rights.
• Legal basis: Compliance with a legal obligation; our legitimate interests in protecting our business and legal position.

6. Marketing communications

We may contact you by email, phone or post with information about our services that we believe may be of interest.

• We will obtain your consent where required by law before sending you marketing communications.
• You can opt out of marketing at any time by:
  • Clicking the unsubscribe link in any email; or
  • Contacting us at info@groundsrisks.co.uk.

If you opt out of marketing, we may still send you non marketing messages that are necessary for our contractual or legal obligations (for example, updates about an ongoing project).

7. Who we share your data with

We may share your personal data with:

Service providers:

IT, hosting and website providers.
• Analytics and cookie consent providers.
• Professional advisers (e.g. legal, insurance, accountancy) where necessary.

Business partners or subcontractors:

• Where they help us deliver our services to you.

Authorities and regulators:

• Where required by law, to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, or to protect our rights, property or safety.
  We require third parties to respect the security of your data and to treat it in accordance with applicable data protection laws. We do not sell your personal data.

8. International transfers

Some of our service providers may be located outside the UK. Where this involves transferring your personal data internationally, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:

• Using countries that the UK considers to provide an adequate level of protection; or
• Using approved standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards.

You can contact us for more information about the specific safeguards we use.

9. How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including to:

• Provide our services and manage our relationship with you.
• Meet legal, accounting and reporting requirements.
• Resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

Retention periods will vary depending on the type of data and our legal obligations, but we will not keep data longer than necessary. When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it.

10. How we protect your data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. These measures may include:

• Secure hosting and network protections.
• Access controls and password protections.
• Regular backups and monitoring.

However, no system is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security of your data. You are responsible for keeping any passwords or access details safe.

11. Your data protection rights

Under UK data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:

• Right of access – To obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how we use it.
• Right to rectification – To have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected.
• Right to erasure – To request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to restrict processing – To request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability – To receive certain data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and have it transferred to another organisation.
• Right to object – To object to our processing where we rely on legitimate interests, including profiling, and to object to direct marketing at any time.
• Right to withdraw consent – Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This will not affect any processing carried out before you withdrew consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at projects@groundsrisks.co.uk. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

12. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies on our website to make it work effectively and to understand how it is used. For detailed information about the cookies we use, why we use them and how you can manage your preferences, please see our separate Cookie Policy.

13. Third party websites

Our website may contain links to third party websites, plug ins or applications. Clicking on those links may allow third parties to collect or share data about you.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third party websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

14. Children

Our website and services are not intended for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data relating to children. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete it.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of the policy and, where appropriate, notify you by email or by a notice on our website.

Please check this page periodically to ensure you are happy with any changes.

16. How to complain

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue:

• Email: projects@groundsrisks.co.uk

You also have the right to make a complaint to the UK data protection regulator:

• Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
  Website: https://www.ico.org.uk
  Telephone: 0303 123 1113