1. Introduction

Athertons (“we”, “us”, or “our”) is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share information about you when you use our website at athertons.co.uk or our mobile application, contact us, or engage with our services.

We are a data controller under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We take our obligations seriously and have designed this policy to be clear and transparent.

Please read this policy carefully. If you have any questions, please contact us using the details provided at the end of this document.

2. Who We Are

Athertons operates the website www.athertons.co.uk. For the purposes of UK data protection law, the data controller responsible for your personal data is:

Atherton and Partners Limited

Grange House

19-21 Grange Mount

Wirral

CH43 4XN

Website: www.athertons.co.uk

Company No: 01579933

For all data protection enquiries, please contact us via the contact details in Section 13 of this policy.

3. What Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

3.1 Data you provide directly

Your name and contact details (email address, phone number, postal address)
Information you submit through enquiry or contact forms on our website
Details you provide when requesting a quote or engaging our services
Communications you send to us by email, phone, or post

3.2 Data collected automatically

Your IP address and browser type
Pages visited and time spent on our website
Referring URLs and search terms used to find us
Device and operating system information
Cookie data (see Section 9 for details)

3.3 Data from third parties

Information from business partners or referral sources, where relevant to our services
Publicly available information such as Companies House records, where applicable

4. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes, relying on the legal bases indicated:

4.1 Management of Human Resources (Employees)

To respond to your enquiries and provide payroll and personel services
To manage timesheet submissions, rotas, holiday booking and management of annual leave
To deliver services and payments you have requested
To manage our business relationship with our employees

4.2 Providing our services (Contract / Legitimate Interests)

To respond to your enquiries and provide quotes
To deliver services you have requested
To manage our business relationship with you

4.3 Legal and regulatory compliance (Legal Obligation)

To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
To maintain records required by law
To respond to requests from regulators or law enforcement where required

4.4 Improving our services (Legitimate Interests)

To analyse how our website is used and improve its functionality
To monitor and ensure the security of our website
To undertake internal business analysis and reporting

4.5 Marketing communications (Consent / Legitimate Interests)

To send you relevant updates, news, or marketing where you have consented or where we have a legitimate interest to do so
You can opt out of marketing communications at any time – see Section 8

5. Who We Share Your Data With

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

Third-party service providers who support our operations (e.g. IT systems, website hosting, email services), who are contractually required to protect your data
Professional advisers such as solicitors, accountants, and insurers, where necessary
HM Revenue & Customs, regulators, and other authorities where we are legally required to do so
Business purchasers or investors in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of our business, where permitted by law

All third parties are required to handle your data securely and in accordance with applicable data protection law.

6. How Long We Keep Your Data

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

In general:

Employee records are retained for 6 years following the end of our business relationship, in line with UK legal and tax requirements
Client records are retained for 7 years following the end of our business relationship, in line with UK legal and tax requirements
Website analytics data is retained for up to 26 months
Enquiry and marketing data is retained for up to 3 years, unless you withdraw your consent sooner

Where data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

7. International Data Transfers

Your data is primarily stored and processed in the United Kingdom. Where we engage third-party service providers based outside the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place – such as Standard Contractual Clauses or adequacy decisions – to protect your data in accordance with UK GDPR requirements.

8. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

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 data in certain circumstances
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit how we use your data
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 or for direct marketing
Rights related to automated decision-making – not to be subject to solely automated decisions that significantly affect you

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 13. We will respond within one month of receiving your request. There is no charge for exercising your rights, though we may charge a reasonable fee if requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

9. Cookies

Our website uses cookies – small text files placed on your device – to help us provide a better user experience and to understand how our site is used.

9.1 Types of cookies we use

Strictly necessary cookies – essential for the website to function (no consent required)
Analytics cookies – to understand website usage (requires your consent)
Functional cookies – to remember your preferences (requires your consent)

You can manage cookie preferences through our cookie banner when you first visit our site, or by adjusting your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

10. Security of Your Data

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. These include:

Secure (HTTPS) connections for data transmitted via our website
Access controls and password protections on internal systems
Regular review of our data security practices

While we take all reasonable steps to protect your data, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. If you suspect your data has been compromised, please contact us immediately.

11. Mobile App Usage

If Athertons makes a mobile application available, this Privacy Policy applies to your use of that app in addition to our website. When you use our mobile app, we may collect and process additional data specific to the mobile environment:

11.1 Data collected through the app

Device identifiers, such as your device ID and operating system version
Mobile network and connectivity information
App usage data, including features accessed and session duration
Location data, where you have granted permission through your device settings
Push notification tokens, if you have opted in to receive notifications

11.2 Device permissions

Our app may request access to certain device features to deliver its functionality. These may include:

Camera – for document scanning or uploading images
Photo library – to allow you to attach images to requests or submissions
Location services – to provide location-relevant features (only where explicitly enabled by you)
Push notifications – to send you service updates and alerts

You can manage these permissions at any time through your device’s settings. Revoking a permission may limit certain app features but will not affect your core access to our services.

11.3 App store platforms

Our app may be distributed via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Those platforms may collect data about your download and usage in accordance with their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for data collected directly by Apple or Google. We encourage you to review their respective privacy policies.

11.4 Analytics and crash reporting

We may use third-party analytics tools within our app to monitor performance, diagnose errors, and improve the user experience. Any data collected for this purpose is processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy and our agreements with those providers.

12. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any website you visit.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your data rights, delete your data, or have a concern about how we handle your data, please contact us: