Privacy Policy - Gardeners Coombe

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Coombe collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data belonging to its customers in the Coombe area. It applies to all Gardeners Coombe customers in the area and is designed to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure manner.

By using our services, making an enquiry, or engaging with Gardeners Coombe in the area, you acknowledge that your information will be processed in line with this policy. We only collect data that is necessary for providing our services, managing customer relationships, and meeting our legal obligations.

1. Information We Collect

Gardeners Coombe may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity data such as your name and, where relevant, business or property name.
Contact data such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service data including details of requested gardening services, appointment preferences, property access notes, and service history.
Communication data including correspondence sent to us by email, telephone, or other channels.
Payment and transaction data where required for invoicing, payment processing, and account administration.
Technical data such as basic device and usage information if you interact with digital systems used to manage enquiries or bookings.
Marketing preferences where you have indicated whether you wish to receive service updates or promotional information.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you provide it voluntarily and there is a lawful reason to do so. Special category data may include information about health, religious beliefs, or other sensitive matters. If such information is ever necessary for delivering a service safely and appropriately, we will handle it with extra care and only when permitted by law.

2. How We Use Your Data

Gardeners Coombe uses personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To manage bookings, visits, and customer instructions.
To deliver gardening, maintenance, and related services.
To process payments, invoices, and account records.
To maintain accurate customer records and service histories.
To communicate about service updates, changes, or issues.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
To improve our services, internal processes, and customer experience.
To send marketing communications where permitted and appropriate.

We only use personal data for purposes that are compatible with the reasons it was collected, unless we have a lawful basis to use it for another purpose.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, Gardeners Coombe must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following bases:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling enquiries, preparing quotes, arranging services, and delivering work requested by customers in the Coombe area.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data when required to comply with legal obligations, including tax records, accounting obligations, and regulatory requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is reasonably necessary for our legitimate interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include managing customer relationships, improving services, preventing fraud, and maintaining business records.

Consent

Where required, we rely on your consent, for example for certain forms of direct marketing. You may withdraw consent at any time, and this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Vital Interests

In rare situations, we may process information to protect someone’s vital interests, such as in an emergency where immediate action is needed.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

Gardeners Coombe may share personal data with trusted third parties that help us operate our business. These recipients act as processors or independent controllers depending on their role. We require processors to handle information securely and only in accordance with our instructions and applicable law.

Examples of processors and third parties may include:

IT and cloud service providers that store or support customer records and communications.
Payment service providers that process payments securely.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that assist with financial records.
Scheduling or administration systems used to manage appointments and work orders.
Professional advisers such as insurers, auditors, or legal advisers where needed.
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law.

We do not sell your personal data. Where data is transferred to a third party, we aim to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. If data is transferred outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure an adequate level of protection, such as using approved contractual safeguards.

5. Data Retention

Gardeners Coombe keeps personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason it is held. In general:

Customer and service records are kept for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records are kept for the period required by law.
Communication records are kept as long as needed to manage enquiries, complaints, or service follow-up.
Marketing preferences are kept until you withdraw consent or object to receiving communications.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

6. Your Rights

As a customer of Gardeners Coombe in the area, you have rights in relation to your personal data. These rights are subject to legal conditions and exceptions, but we will always handle requests carefully and in line with data protection law.

Right of access – You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – In certain circumstances, you can request deletion of your data.
Right to restriction – You can ask us to limit how we use your data in some situations.
Right to data portability – You can request that certain data be provided in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object – You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has not been handled properly.

7. Data Security

We take the security of personal data seriously. Gardeners Coombe uses appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness procedures, and minimisation of data collected.

While we take reasonable steps to protect personal information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore encourage customers to share only information that is necessary for the service being provided.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business practices, or the way we handle personal data. Any updates will apply from the date they are issued. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically so you remain informed about how Gardeners Coombe uses personal data.

9. Additional Notes

Gardeners Coombe processes personal data only for legitimate business and service purposes. We are careful to ensure that data is accurate, relevant, and not excessive. Where possible, we keep information up to date and delete it when it is no longer needed. Our approach is based on the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and confidentiality.

By continuing to use Gardeners Coombe services in the area, customers acknowledge that they have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If any part of this policy is unclear, the guiding principle is that we will always aim to protect your privacy and process your data responsibly.