Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 November 2026

1. Who We Are

Ashgrove Technical Academy Ltd ("we", "us", "our") is a company registered in England and Wales under company number 12061743. Our registered address is 8 Exchange Quay, Salford M5 3EQ, United Kingdom. Our VAT registration number is GB 342 7019 58.

We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. If you have questions about how we handle your data, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights, you can reach our data protection contact at privacy@ashgrovetechnical.co.uk.

We take data protection seriously. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have. We comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us:

• Contact information: your name, email address, phone number, and company name, provided when you submit our demo booking form or contact us directly.
• Enquiry details: the contents of messages you send us, including team size, preferred demo dates, and any other information you choose to include.
• Technical data: your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, time zone setting, and pages you visit on our site. This data is collected automatically when you browse our website.
• Cookie data: information stored by cookies on your device, subject to your consent preferences. See Section 10 for full details on our use of cookies.

We do not collect any special category data (sometimes called "sensitive data"), such as data relating to health, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or political opinions. We don't want it and we have no use for it.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data through the following means:

• Directly from you: when you fill in our demo booking form, send us an email, or telephone us.
• Automatically: when you visit our website, through cookies and server logs.
• From third parties: occasionally, a colleague or manager at your organisation may provide your name and email when booking training on behalf of a team. In these cases, we will contact you to confirm your details and provide a copy of this policy.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. The bases we rely on are:

• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose — for example, when you accept cookies or opt into marketing communications.
• Contractual necessity (Article 6(1)(b)): where processing is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request prior to entering a contract — for example, processing your demo booking to schedule a session.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights. Our legitimate interests include responding to enquiries, improving our website and services, and administering our business.

5. How We Use Your Data

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

• To respond to your demo booking request and schedule a session.
• To communicate with you about our courses, including sending booking confirmations and logistical information.
• To administer and deliver training courses you or your organisation have purchased.
• To maintain and improve our website, including analysing usage patterns to identify technical issues.
• To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling. We do not sell your personal data to third parties. Full stop.

6. Data Sharing

We may share your personal data with the following categories of recipients, but only to the extent necessary:

• Service providers: companies that help us operate our business, such as hosting providers, email service providers, and payment processors. These providers act as data processors on our behalf and are contractually bound to handle your data in accordance with our instructions and UK GDPR.
• Professional advisers: our accountants, solicitors, and auditors, where necessary for legal, financial, or regulatory purposes.
• Law enforcement or regulatory bodies: where we are legally required to disclose information, or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.

We do not share your data with marketing companies, data brokers, or any third party for their own advertising purposes.

7. International Data Transfers

We primarily store and process personal data within the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area. Where data is transferred outside of the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), or transfers to countries that the UK has deemed to provide an adequate level of data protection.

If you would like more information about the specific safeguards applied to international transfers of your data, please contact us at privacy@ashgrovetechnical.co.uk.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected. Specifically:

• Enquiry and booking data: retained for up to 24 months after your last interaction with us, unless we have an ongoing contractual relationship.
• Course participation records: retained for up to 6 years to comply with our legal and tax obligations.
• Website analytics data: aggregated and anonymised data may be retained indefinitely. Data that identifies individual visitors is deleted within 14 months of collection.

When retention periods expire, we securely delete or anonymise the data so it can no longer be associated with you.

9. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: you can ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances (sometimes called the "right to be forgotten").
• Right to restrict processing: you can ask us to limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability: you can request that we provide your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: you can object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis.
• Right to withdraw consent: where we process data based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@ashgrovetechnical.co.uk. We will respond to your request within one month, as required by law. In complex cases, we may extend this by a further two months, but we'll let you know if that's the case and explain why.

10. Cookies

Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to help us understand how visitors use the site. When you first visit, a cookie consent banner gives you the choice to accept or decline non-essential cookies.

• Essential cookies: these are necessary for the website to function properly. They include cookies that remember your consent preference. These cookies do not require your consent under UK law.
• Analytics cookies: if you consent, we may use analytics cookies to collect anonymous information about how you navigate the site. This helps us identify which pages are most useful and where users encounter difficulties.

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. We do not serve targeted advertisements. Your consent preference is stored locally on your device and you can change it at any time by clearing your browser's cookies and revisiting our site.

11. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. These measures include encryption of data in transit using TLS, access controls limiting who within our organisation can view personal data, and regular reviews of our security practices.

That said, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we work hard to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the ICO in accordance with our obligations under UK GDPR.

12. Complaints

If you believe we have handled your personal data improperly, we'd like the chance to put things right. Please contact us first at privacy@ashgrovetechnical.co.uk and we will do our best to resolve your concern.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent authority set up to uphold information rights. You can contact the ICO at:

• Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
• Telephone: 0303 123 1113
• Website: ico.org.uk

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or the services we offer. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If the changes are significant, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you — for example, by posting a notice on our website.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of our website after changes have been published constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.