Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

1st-Surface Limited respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, retain and protect personal information when you:

• visit www.1st-surface.co.uk;

• contact us by telephone, email, website form or social media;

• request a site visit, quotation or information about our services;

• become, or consider becoming, a customer;

• work with us as a supplier, contractor or professional adviser; or

• otherwise communicate or do business with us.

This policy should be read alongside our Website Terms and Conditions and the cookie information provided through our website’s cookie settings.

2. Who we are

1st-Surface Limited is the controller responsible for the personal information covered by this policy.
Company name: 1st-Surface Limited
Company number: 03503887
Registered office: Cornerways House, 2 Dashwood Close, West Byfleet, Surrey, KT14 6QH
VAT registration number: 711 0510 05
Telephone: 01932 340011
Email: info@1st-surface.co.uk
References in this policy to “1st Surface”, “we”, “us” or “our” mean 1st-Surface Limited.

3. Personal information we collect

The personal information we collect depends on your relationship with us and may include:
Identity and contact information

This may include your:

• name;

• postal or site address;

• email address;

• telephone number;

• job title;

• employer or organisation; and

• preferred method of communication.

Enquiry and project information

This may include:

• information submitted through our website contact form;

• details of the services in which you are interested;

• proposed project location;

• site access information;

• photographs, plans, measurements and site-survey information;

• correspondence, meeting notes and telephone-call records;

• quotation and specification requirements; and

• planning, construction and maintenance information relevant to your project.

Site photographs will normally relate to the property and project. However, they may occasionally contain identifiable people, vehicle registration numbers or other personal information.

Contract and transaction information

This may include:

• quotations, orders and contracts;

• billing and payment information;

• invoices and transaction records;

• information about services supplied;

• customer-service correspondence;

• warranty, complaint and remedial-work records; and

• records needed to establish or defend legal claims.

We do not normally collect or retain complete payment-card information through this website.

Marketing information

This may include:

• whether you have agreed to receive marketing communications;

• your marketing preferences;

• records of communications sent to you; and

• your interaction with our emails or online advertising, where the relevant technology is used.

Technical and website information

When you use our website, we or our service providers may collect:

• your Internet Protocol address;

• browser and device type;

• operating system;

• approximate location;

• pages visited;

• referring website;

• dates, times and duration of visits;

• website interactions;

• cookie identifiers; and

• advertising and conversion information.

Non-essential analytics and advertising information is collected only where the required consent has been obtained.

Supplier and contractor information

If you supply goods or services to us, we may collect your contact details, business information, insurance details, qualifications, payment details and records relating to the work undertaken.

Special-category information

We do not intentionally collect special-category personal information through our website.
If you voluntarily provide information concerning health, disability or another sensitive matter because it is relevant to site access, communication or the safe delivery of a service, we will use it only where permitted by law and where reasonably necessary.

Please do not submit unnecessary sensitive personal information through the website contact form.

4. How we collect personal information

We may collect information:

• directly from you when you contact us, submit a form, request a quotation or enter into a contract;

• during a telephone call, meeting, site visit or survey;

• through emails and other correspondence;

• automatically through our website, cookies and similar technologies;

• from your employer or an organisation you represent;

• from an architect, surveyor, planning consultant, contractor, property manager or other person involved in your project;

• from publicly available sources, including Companies House, planning portals and professional or business websites;

• from advertising, analytics and website-service providers; and

• from another person who refers or introduces you to us.
   

If you provide personal information about someone else, you should ensure that you are authorised to do so and that the person understands how their information will be used.

5. How and why we use personal information

We only use personal information where we have a lawful basis for doing so.

Purpose
Responding to enquiries and arranging site visits
Information normally used
Identity, contact, enquiry and project information
Lawful basis
Taking steps at your request before entering into a contract; legitimate interests

​Purpose
Preparing quotations, specifications and proposals
Information normally used
Contact, site and project information
Lawful basis
Taking steps before entering into a contract; legitimate interests

​Purpose
Supplying and managing contracted services
Information normally used
Identity, contact, contract, project and transaction information
Lawful basis
Performance of a contract

​Purpose
Managing payments, invoices and accounts
Information normally used
Identity, contact and transaction information
Lawful basis
Performance of a contract; legal obligation; legitimate interests

​Purpose
Communicating about projects, maintenance, warranties and complaints
Information normally used
Contact, project and contract information
Lawful basis
Performance of a contract; legitimate interests; legal obligation

​Purpose
Managing relationships with commercial customers, suppliers and contractors
Information normally used
Business contact, contract and transaction information
Lawful basis
Performance of a contract; legitimate interests

​Purpose
Improving our website, services and customer experience
Information normally used
Technical, usage and enquiry information
Lawful basis
Consent for non-essential cookies; legitimate interests where cookies or consent are not required

​Purpose
Measuring advertising performance and presenting relevant advertising
Information normally used
Technical, cookie and marketing information
Lawful basis
Consent

​Purpose
Sending marketing communications
Information normally used
Contact and marketing-preference information
Lawful basis
Consent or legitimate interests, where permitted by direct-marketing law

​Purpose
Protecting our website, systems, staff, customers and business
Information normally used
Technical, communication and transaction information
Lawful basis
Legitimate interests; legal obligation

​Purpose
Preventing and investigating fraud, misuse and security incidents
Information normally used
Technical, identity, contact and transaction information
Lawful basis
Legitimate interests; legal obligation

​Purpose
Complying with tax, accounting, regulatory and legal requirements
Information normally used
Identity, contract and transaction information
Lawful basis
Legal obligation

​Purpose
Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims
Information normally used
Information relevant to the claim
Lawful basis
Legitimate interests; legal obligation

Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests include operating and protecting our business, responding to enquiries, managing customer and supplier relationships, improving our services and promoting relevant services. We consider whether these interests are proportionate and whether they could unfairly affect your rights.

6. If you do not provide information

You are not generally required to provide personal information merely to browse our website.
However, we may need certain information to respond to an enquiry, prepare a quotation, arrange a site visit, enter into a contract or provide services. If the necessary information is not provided, we may be unable to proceed.

Fields that must be completed on a website form should be clearly identified.

7. Marketing communications

We may use your contact details to send information about services that may be relevant to you where:

• you have given your consent;

• you have previously enquired about or purchased similar services and applicable law allows us to contact you; or

• we are contacting a business representative and have a legitimate interest in doing so.
   

You can object to direct marketing or withdraw your consent at any time by:

• following the unsubscribe instructions in a marketing email;

• emailing info@1st-surface.co.uk; or

• calling 01932 340011.
   

We may retain a minimal suppression record after you unsubscribe so that we can respect your preference and avoid contacting you again for marketing purposes.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small files stored on your device when you visit a website.

Our website may use:

• essential cookies, which are required for security, website operation and remembering your privacy choices;

• analytics cookies, which help us understand how visitors use the website;

• functionality cookies, which support website features and preferences; and

• advertising cookies, which help measure campaigns and make advertising more relevant.
   

We use, or may use, services provided by Google, including Google Analytics and Google Ads. These services may receive technical, usage, cookie and advertising information when you have consented to the relevant cookies.

Non-essential cookies will not be placed unless you provide the required consent. You can accept, reject or change your choices through the cookie settings available on the website.

You can also control cookies through your browser. Disabling certain cookies may affect how the website functions.

The cookie settings should provide current details of the cookies in use, their providers, purposes and duration.

9. Sharing personal information

We may share personal information, where necessary, with:

• website hosting, maintenance and content-management providers;

• email, telephone and IT service providers;

• analytics and advertising providers, including Google;

• accountants, insurers, banks and payment-service providers;

• professional advisers, including solicitors, surveyors, engineers and planning consultants;

• employees, subcontractors, suppliers and specialist contractors involved in delivering a project;

• local authorities, planning bodies, regulators and public authorities;

• debt-recovery and fraud-prevention providers;

• a purchaser, investor or adviser in connection with a proposed sale, restructuring or transfer of our business; and

• courts, law-enforcement bodies or other organisations where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

We require service providers acting on our behalf to protect personal information and use it only for the agreed purpose.

We will not sell, rent or trade personal information.

10. International transfers

Some service providers, including providers of analytics, advertising, email, hosting or cloud technology, may process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take reasonable steps to ensure that an appropriate legal safeguard is used. Depending on the destination and provider, this may include:

• UK adequacy regulations;

• the UK International Data Transfer Agreement;

• the UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses; or

• another safeguard permitted by UK data-protection law.

You may contact us if you would like further information about the safeguards used for a particular transfer.

11. How long we retain information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, insurance and reporting requirements.

Our usual retention periods are:

InformationUsual retention period
General enquiries that do not result in work - Up to two years after the last meaningful contact

Quotations and proposals - Up to three years after expiry or the last contact, unless needed for a continuing relationship or legal claim

Customer contracts, project and warranty records - Normally six years after completion or the end of the customer relationship, or longer where required for a warranty, insurance matter or legal claim

Invoices, payments and accounting records - At least six years after the end of the relevant financial year
Supplier and contractor recordsNormally six years after the relationship or relevant transaction ends

Marketing records - Until you opt out, consent is withdrawn or the information is no longer useful, subject to periodic review

Marketing suppression records - For as long as reasonably necessary to respect your opt-out

Website security records and server logs - Normally up to 12 months, unless required to investigate an incident

Cookie information - For the period shown in the website’s cookie settings

These periods may be shortened or extended where required by law, an insurance policy, a contractual obligation, an investigation or a legal claim.

We may retain anonymised information that can no longer identify you.

12. Keeping information secure

We use appropriate administrative, technical and physical measures intended to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

Access is limited to people and service providers who need the information for legitimate business purposes. Those people are required to handle it securely.

No website, email service or internet transmission is completely secure. You should avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through unencrypted email or website forms.

13. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

• request access to the personal information we hold about you;

• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

• ask us to erase your information;

• ask us to restrict how information is used;

• object to processing based on legitimate interests;

• object to direct marketing at any time;

• receive certain information in a portable format;

• withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent; and

• complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
   

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal exemptions.

You have an absolute right to object to the use of your personal information for direct marketing.
To exercise a right, email info@1st-surface.co.uk or write to the address in section 2. We may need to verify your identity before completing a request.

There is normally no charge for exercising your rights. However, the law may allow us to charge a reasonable fee or refuse a request if it is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

14. Automated decision-making

We do not currently use personal information to make solely automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.

Analytics and advertising services may use automated processes to group website visitors or determine which advertisements are displayed. This does not involve 1st Surface making a legally significant decision about you.

15. Children’s information

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect children’s personal information through the website.

If information about a child is relevant to a project or site, it should be provided only by a parent, guardian or other appropriately authorised adult and only where necessary.

16. External websites and social media

Our website may contain links to external websites or social-media platforms.

Those organisations are responsible for their own privacy practices. We recommend reading their privacy notices before submitting personal information or using their services.

Interactions with our social-media accounts may also be processed by the relevant social-media provider under its own terms and privacy policy.

17. Complaints

Please contact us first if you have a concern about how we use personal information. We will try to resolve it promptly.

You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data-protection regulator:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk

18. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy to reflect changes in our services, technology, legal obligations or use of personal information.

The latest version will be published on this page. Significant changes may also be communicated through the website or directly where appropriate.

19. Contact us

Questions about this policy or the use of your personal information should be directed to:
1st-Surface Limited
Cornerways House
2 Dashwood Close
West Byfleet
Surrey
KT14 6QH
Telephone: 01932 340011
Email: info@1st-surface.co.uk