Privacy Policy

Consultmates UK ("Consultmates", "we", "us", "our") respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal data we collect when you visit www.consultmates.com, contact us or work with us, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have. We process personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR).

1. Who we are

Consultmates UK is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. We are a company registered in England and Wales under company number 17355827.

• Email: hello@consultmates.com
• Registered office: 66 Paul Street, London, England, EC2A 4NA. This is our registered postal address only — we work with clients remotely and do not hold meetings there.
• ICO registration: our registration with the Information Commissioner's Office has been applied for and is being processed. We will publish our registration number on this page as soon as it is confirmed.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at hello@consultmates.com.

2. The personal data we collect

Information you give us

• Enquiry form: your name, business name, work email address, country, the type of enquiry, your website (optional), your message and your confirmation that you agree to be contacted.
• Email, WhatsApp, phone and meetings: your name, contact details, job title, and anything you choose to tell us about you or your business.
• Clients and partners: contact and billing details, contract information, and business information shared during an engagement.

Information collected automatically

• Technical data: IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, the website that referred you, and the date and time of your visit. Our hosting provider records this to keep the site running securely.
• Cookies and similar technologies: see our Cookie Policy.

We do not intentionally collect special category data (for example, health or religious information). Please do not send us this kind of information unless we have asked for it.

3. How we use your data and our lawful bases

We do not sell your personal data and we do not use it for automated decision-making that has legal or similarly significant effects on you.

4. Who we share your data with

We only share personal data where necessary, and with organisations that are required to protect it:

• Hosting and database providers that run our website and securely store enquiries.
• Email providers that deliver our emails and enquiry notifications.
• WhatsApp (Meta), if you choose to contact us through WhatsApp. WhatsApp's own privacy policy applies to that service.
• Google Fonts, which supplies the fonts on this website and receives your IP address when the page loads.
• Partners and specialist advisers, only with your agreement, for example when you ask to be introduced.
• Professional advisers such as accountants, lawyers and insurers, and authorities where the law requires it.

5. International transfers

Some of our service providers may process data outside the UK, including in the European Economic Area and the United States. Where this happens, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

6. How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only for as long as we have a lawful reason to hold it, and never longer than UK law allows. In practice this means:

• Enquiries that do not lead to work: kept while we have a legitimate reason to stay in touch with you, and deleted once that reason ends or you ask us to, whichever comes first.
• Client and contract records: kept for the periods UK company, tax and accounting law requires us to hold business records — for some records up to six years after the end of the engagement — and deleted or anonymised afterwards.
• Cookie preferences: stored on your device for up to 12 months.

Where UK law sets a minimum period we cannot shorten it, and where a legal claim is possible we may hold data until that claim is resolved. Otherwise, we delete your data as soon as we no longer need it.

7. How we protect your data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls limiting who can view enquiries, and reputable providers with strong security standards. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, but we work to protect your information.

8. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• be told how your data is used (this policy);
• access a copy of your personal data;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• have your data deleted in certain circumstances;
• restrict or object to how we use your data, including for direct marketing;
• receive your data in a portable format;
• withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting earlier processing.

To use any of these rights, email hello@consultmates.com. We will reply within one month. There is normally no charge.

9. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

10. Third-party websites

Our website links to partner and other third-party websites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, so please read their own privacy policies.

11. Children

Our services are for businesses and are not aimed at children under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top.