Gardeners Ardleigh Green Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Ardleigh Green collects, uses, stores and protects personal data about its customers. It applies to all Gardeners Ardleigh Green customers located in the Ardleigh Green area and to anyone who contacts us to enquire about or use our gardening and related services.

By engaging with Gardeners Ardleigh Green, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and that we will process your personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Who we are

Gardeners Ardleigh Green is a gardening services provider operating in the Ardleigh Green area. We act as the data controller for the personal data we collect about our customers and potential customers in connection with our services. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used and are responsible for ensuring it is handled lawfully.

Personal data we collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data, depending on how you interact with us and which services you use. This may include the following categories of information.

Identity and contact details, such as your name, residential address, property access instructions that you choose to provide, and other contact details such as your preferred method for us to get in touch.

Service details, such as information about the garden or property where services are to be provided, including size and layout descriptions, photographs you choose to share, notes about plant types, and records of services provided and recommendations made.

Communication records, such as notes of your enquiries, requests, feedback or complaints, and any correspondence you exchange with us, whether written or verbal where we make a written note.

Payment and transaction information, such as the amount charged for services, dates of payments, and method of payment. Where payment is processed by a third party provider, we may receive only limited payment information and do not necessarily have access to full card or bank details.

Technical usage information, where applicable, such as limited information generated when you visit our website or digital channels, including basic analytical data about how you access and use those services. We aim to minimise the use of tracking and collect only what is necessary to maintain and improve our services.

How we collect your data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, book a service, or ask a question. This may occur in person, over the phone, or through written communication. We may also collect information when we visit your property to assess the work required or to deliver services.

In some cases, personal data may be provided to us by another person acting on your behalf, such as a family member, landlord, tenant, or letting agent, where they arrange gardening services for your property. When this happens, we take reasonable steps to ensure you are informed that we hold your data.

Lawful bases for processing

We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. The main lawful bases we rely on are the following.

Contract. We process personal data where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform our contract with you. This includes providing quotes, scheduling and delivering gardening services, and managing your account.

Legal obligation. We may process personal data where it is necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as maintaining appropriate records for tax and accounting purposes.

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. Examples include managing and improving our services, responding to enquiries, ensuring security of our staff and property, and keeping limited records of past work carried out at a property to assist with future jobs.

Consent. In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example, for optional marketing communications. When we rely on consent, you are free to withdraw it at any time and we will explain how to do this at the point of collection.

How we use your personal data

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

To provide quotations, plan and deliver gardening services at your property in the Ardleigh Green area.

To communicate with you about bookings, changes to services, access arrangements, and follow up after work has been completed.

To manage our business operations, including scheduling, staff allocation, quality control, safety, record keeping, and handling payments.

To respond to your enquiries, feedback, or complaints and to resolve any disputes.

To comply with applicable laws, requests from competent authorities, and to exercise or defend legal claims where necessary.

Where permitted, to inform you about services that may be of interest to you, while respecting your marketing preferences.

Sharing your personal data

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with selected third parties only where necessary and appropriate, including the following categories of recipients.

Service providers acting as data processors who provide us with business support services such as payment processing, accounting, information technology, and secure data storage. These processors are only allowed to use your data in line with our instructions and must protect it in accordance with data protection law and appropriate contractual safeguards.

Professional advisers, such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers, where this is necessary for the management of our business or to handle legal or insurance matters.

Public authorities or law enforcement agencies, where we are required to do so by law or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, property, safety, or the safety of others.

In the event of a business restructure or change of ownership, your personal data may be transferred as part of that process, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data protection safeguards.

Data retention

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

In practice, this means that we will retain customer and service records for a period that allows us to respond to questions about past work, meet tax and accounting obligations, and manage any potential legal claims. When personal data is no longer needed for these purposes, we will securely delete or anonymise it.

The exact retention period may vary depending on the type of data and the nature of your relationship with us. If you request deletion of your data, we will assess whether we can comply in full or in part, taking into account our legal obligations and legitimate interests.

International transfers

Where we use third party service providers that store or process data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we take steps to ensure that your personal data is subject to an equivalent level of protection. This may involve use of contracts that incorporate standard data protection clauses recognised under data protection law or reliance on other appropriate safeguards.

Data security

We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the personal data we hold against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, restricted access to personal data, and staff awareness of privacy responsibilities.

While we work to protect your personal data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security but we continually review and improve our safeguards.

Your data protection rights

As a customer of Gardeners Ardleigh Green in the Ardleigh Green area, you have a number of rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, these rights may include the following.

The right of access. You can request confirmation of whether we hold personal data about you and, if we do, request a copy of that data and certain information about how we use it.

The right to rectification. You can ask us to correct or complete personal data that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.

The right to erasure. In some 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.

The right to restriction of processing. You can ask us to restrict how we use your data, for example while we are verifying its accuracy or assessing an objection you have raised.

The right to object. You can object to certain types of processing, including processing based on our legitimate interests and direct marketing. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests or unless processing is required for legal claims.

The 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 commonly used, machine readable format and to ask us to transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority if you are concerned about how we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve your concerns directly.

Privacy of children

Our services are aimed at adult customers responsible for properties in the Ardleigh Green area. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children for marketing or contractual purposes. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child without appropriate authority, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or how we handle personal data. Any changes will be effective when we publish the updated policy. Where appropriate, we will notify you of significant changes through our usual communication channels.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how Gardeners Ardleigh Green protects the personal data of all its customers in the Ardleigh Green area.