Privacy Policy & Cookie Notice

1. Who we are

Guildford Consulting Group Limited is a company registered in England and Wales. We operate the website www.guildfordconsultinggroup.com and provide organisational performance consultancy services.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, Guildford Consulting Group Limited is the data controller in respect of personal data collected through this website and our business activities.

2. What personal data we collect

We collect personal data in the following circumstances:

2.1 Website contact form

• Name
• Organisation name
• Email address (if provided voluntarily in the message field)
• The content of your message

2.2 Direct correspondence

When you contact us by email or telephone, we collect the personal data contained in that correspondence, including your name, contact details, and the content of the communication.

2.3 Client and prospective client data

In the course of providing or scoping consultancy services, we may collect professional contact details, job titles, and information relevant to the engagement. We do not collect sensitive personal data (as defined under UK GDPR) unless strictly necessary and with explicit consent.

2.4 Website usage data

We collect limited technical data when you visit our website, including IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time of visit. This is collected via cookies and analytics tools. See Part 2 (Cookie Notice) for full details.

3. How we use your personal data

• To respond to enquiries submitted via the website contact form
• To communicate with prospective and existing clients about our services
• To fulfil contractual obligations in relation to consultancy engagements
• To maintain records required for legal and accounting purposes
• To analyse and improve the performance of our website

We do not use personal data for automated decision-making or profiling. We do not sell personal data to third parties. We do not use personal data for direct marketing without consent.

4. Lawful basis for processing

We rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:

• Legitimate interests — responding to business enquiries and maintaining client relationships, where those interests are not overridden by your data protection rights
• Contract — processing necessary to perform a consultancy engagement or to take steps at your request prior to entering into one
• Legal obligation — where processing is required to comply with a legal requirement
• Consent — where we have asked for and received your explicit consent (for example, in relation to non-essential cookies)

5. How long we keep your data

• Contact form submissions: 12 months from the date of submission, unless the enquiry proceeds to a client engagement
• Client engagement records: 6 years from the end of the engagement, in line with standard contractual limitation periods
• Financial records: 6 years, as required by HMRC
• Website analytics data: as set by the analytics provider (see Cookie Notice)

After the applicable retention period, data is securely deleted or anonymised.

6. Who we share your data with

We do not sell or rent personal data. We may share data with:

• Third-party service providers who support our business operations (for example, email hosting, website analytics, accounting software), where those providers act as data processors under contractual data processing agreements
• Professional advisers (solicitors, accountants) where necessary
• Regulatory or law enforcement authorities, where required by law

Where we transfer data to service providers outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR requirements.

7. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights:

• Right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification — to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure — to request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances
• Right to restriction — to request that we restrict processing in certain circumstances
• Right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format
• Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, to withdraw it at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at paddy.thompson@guildfordconsultinggroup.com. We will respond within one calendar month.

8. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the internet is entirely secure.

9. Changes to this policy

We review this Privacy Policy annually and following any material change in our data processing activities. The effective date at the top of this document indicates when it was last updated. We recommend checking this page periodically.

1. What are cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites function correctly, to improve performance, and to provide information to the website owner.

2. Cookies we use

2.1 Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential for the website to function and cannot be switched off. They do not require your consent.

• Session management — to maintain continuity during your visit
• Security cookies — to protect against cross-site request forgery

2.2 Analytics cookies (consent required)

With your consent, we use analytics cookies to understand how visitors interact with our website. This helps us improve content and user experience. Data collected is aggregated and anonymised where possible.

If you use an analytics service such as Google Analytics, data may be transferred to and stored on servers in the United States. Google LLC is certified under the UK-US data bridge framework.

2.3 Preference cookies (consent required)

These cookies remember choices you make on the website so that you do not have to make the same choice on each visit.

3. Managing cookies

When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie consent banner. You may:

• Accept all cookies
• Accept strictly necessary cookies only
• Withdraw consent at any time by clearing your browser cookies and revisiting the site

You can also control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies. Note that blocking all cookies may affect the functionality of some websites.

For guidance on managing cookies in common browsers, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

4. Third-party cookies

Our website may include links to third-party websites. Those websites have their own cookie and privacy policies, which we do not control. We are not responsible for their content or practices.

5. Contact