Privacy Policy

Gardeners Ruxley Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Ruxley collects, uses, stores and protects personal data of its customers and prospective customers within its service area. It is intended to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws. By engaging our services or interacting with us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Ruxley customers and prospective customers in our operating area, including individuals who contact us for quotations, make bookings, purchase products or services, visit our premises, or otherwise interact with us. It applies to personal data processed in connection with our gardening services, customer service, marketing and business operations.

Types of Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data, depending on how you interact with us:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, postal address, billing address, and preferred contact details.

Service and contract information, such as details of the services you request, quotations provided, job notes, photographs of your garden or outdoor space where necessary for planning and records, and details of any warranties or ongoing maintenance agreements.

Transaction and payment information, such as records of services purchased, payment status, payment method, and invoices. We do not store full payment card details when using external payment processors.

Communication records, such as enquiries, feedback, complaints, and any correspondence between you and Gardeners Ruxley by post, online forms or other communication channels.

Usage and interaction data, such as information about how you use our services, respond to communications, and any preferences you share with us regarding service delivery or marketing.

How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quotation, make a booking, enter into a contract with us, make a payment, or otherwise communicate with us. We may also receive information from third parties where you have given them permission to share your details with us for the purposes of providing our services.

Lawful Bases for Processing Your Data

We only process personal data where we have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the context, we may rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract: We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into, or perform, a contract for gardening services or related products, such as to arrange work, manage bookings, issue invoices, and provide aftercare.

Legal obligation: We may process certain personal data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as record keeping, tax obligations, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate interests: We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include managing and improving our services, handling customer enquiries, maintaining security, and sending limited marketing communications to existing customers about similar products or services.

Consent: In some cases we rely on your consent, for example where you agree to receive certain types of marketing communications or where consent is required for specific uses of your personal data. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We may use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our gardening services, including arranging visits, carrying out work, and managing ongoing maintenance.

To prepare and issue quotations, contracts, invoices and payment records.

To respond to your enquiries, requests for information, feedback and complaints.

To manage our relationship with you, including notifying you of changes to services, terms or this Privacy Policy.

To maintain accurate business and financial records in line with legal and regulatory requirements.

To improve our services and operations, including quality control, staff training and service planning.

To send you service-related communications and, where permitted, relevant marketing about similar products or services.

Data Sharing and Use of Processors

We may share your personal data with third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and where permitted by law. These third parties may include:

Service providers that act as data processors on our behalf, such as payment processing providers, accounting and bookkeeping providers, customer relationship management providers, information technology and hosting providers, and communication service providers.

Professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary to obtain professional services and comply with legal obligations.

Public authorities, regulators, or law enforcement agencies where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights, property, or the safety of our staff and customers.

Where we use processors, they will only process personal data on our instructions and are required to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.

International Data Transfers

Where any of our processors or service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we take steps to ensure that your personal data is afforded an equivalent level of protection. This may include using standard contractual clauses or ensuring that the recipient is located in a country that has been deemed to provide an adequate level of data protection.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

In general, customer and contract records are kept for the duration of your relationship with us and for a period after that relationship ends, in line with applicable limitation periods and legal obligations. Financial and tax-related records are typically retained for the period required by law. Communication records may be kept for a reasonable period to handle enquiries, resolve disputes, and improve our services.

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

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and regular review of our data handling practices. While we strive to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access: You can request confirmation that we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, together with certain information about how we use it.

Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data that we hold about you.

Right to erasure: In certain circumstances you can ask us to delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.

Right to restriction of processing: You can 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 can object to our processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests, including profiling on that basis. You also have an absolute right to object to direct marketing at any time.

Right to data portability: Where processing is based on consent or 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 it to another controller.

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

Exercising Your Rights and Complaints

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions about how Gardeners Ruxley processes your personal data, you can contact us using your usual communication channels with our business. We will respond to legitimate requests without undue delay and within the timeframes required by law.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you believe that your rights have been infringed or that your personal data has not been handled in accordance with applicable law. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can seek to resolve any concerns directly.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or services. Any changes will be posted in the latest version of this Privacy Policy, which will apply from the date of publication. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.