Data Protection Controller and Contact Details

Witherington & Co. Ltd is a “Data Controller” and as such it is required to notify you how your information is held and used pursuant to relevant data protection laws. Questions and queries about this privacy policy or about how we as an organisation use your personal data can be sent to our data protection representative by email via enquiries@witheringtonandco.com.

1. Information Collection

As a visitor, you do not have to submit any personal information in order to use the Website. The site collects and stores personally identifiable information that is specifically and voluntarily provided by visitors. Such information may consist of, but is not limited to, your name, job title, company address, email address, telephone numbers, and any financial information that you choose to disclose. We do not collect such personal information without your knowledge. This information is broadly termed as “personal data” or “personal information”.

In the event that you choose to supply personal information either through the website, via email, or by telephone, we will collect, use, share, and store this personal data. We collect this information when we speak to you, from online applications or contact forms made via our website, and from documents, emails, or other correspondence that you send to us.

Where personal and financial information relating to another person, business partner, or spouse is supplied by you, you confirm that you have their explicit consent or are otherwise legally entitled to provide this information to us for our professional use.

We will collect further information if you contact us with comments or specific requests, which may include requests to be contacted for marketing purposes or via social media. In these cases, we may also hold, use, share, and store marketing preferences, payment details, event attendances, social media usernames, engagement details, likes, retweets, shares, reactions, and comments.

We do not usually seek sensitive personal information (e.g., data relating to race or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, criminal records, physical or mental health, or sexual orientation) from visitors. We will, where strictly necessary for professional or regulatory compliance purposes, obtain your explicit consent to collect and use such information.

For training and regulatory verification purposes, calls with our offices may be recorded or monitored. Where calls are recorded, you will be advised of this at the outset of the call. Details of any call may be tracked, including but not limited to caller identification, the number called, the time, date, duration, and disposition of the call.

2. Cookies

To ensure that our website is well managed and to facilitate improved navigation, we or our service provider(s) use cookies (small text files stored in a user’s browser) to collect aggregate data. We use such devices to track information on our systems and identify categories of visitors by items such as IP address, domain, browser type, and pages visited. This information is used by our website administrator to analyse the number of visitors to different areas of the site and to ensure that our website serves as a useful, effective informational source.

Cookies do not collect personal information such as your name or email address. Cookies can be rejected via your browser or our cookie preference selector; however, under specific circumstances, visitors may be denied access to some parts of our site if cookies are completely disabled.

Cookie Classifications

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Essential for the operation of the site and to enable you to navigate its features. Without these, certain parts of the site will not function.
• Performance Cookies: These cookies collect anonymous information about how visitors interact with the site to help us improve how it works.
• Functionality Cookies: These remember choices you make to improve and personalize your experience during your visit.

Intrusion Level Key

• Red: Intrusive; collecting personally identifiable information.
• Amber: Somewhat intrusive; analytical tracking.
• Green: Not intrusive; standard framework or necessary for base website operation.

Active Website Cookies

You can block cookies via your browser configurations. To systematically manage your cookie parameters, visit structural guides such as Microsoft Support.

3. Information Use

We will only use the personal information you supply through this website or over the telephone when the law allows us to. We process your data under the following lawful bases:

1. Where you have given your informed, unambiguous, and specific consent;
2. Where we need to comply with a legal or statutory obligation;
3. Where we need to perform a contract we have entered into with you; and
4. Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided your fundamental rights do not override them.

We utilize your information to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, prevent fraud, carry out necessary regulatory checks, and meet our obligations to professional accounting governing bodies. We also use your data to deliver our professional services, manage client matters, and communicate relevant updates that we believe are of legitimate interest to your business.

4. Disclosure of Information to Third Parties

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information with third parties for secondary marketing purposes. Your personal data may be shared with trusted third-party service providers who perform operations on our behalf (such as IT support, document systems, cloud accounting platforms, and email systems). All such third parties are contractually required to implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal information.

In cases where professional legislation requires us to carry out verification checks, we will validate your name, address, and other personal information against official third-party verification databases. In performing these checks, data may be disclosed to registered Credit Reference Agencies, which may keep a record of that search query. This does not affect your credit score.

5. Data Retention

In the majority of client engagements and active business communications, the standard period for retaining your core personal data is 6 years from the date of the formal closure of your contact or matter with us, aligning with UK statutory limitation rules.

• Marketing Information: Maintained for the duration of our relationship and up to 6 years following cessation.
• Social Media Logs: Held while connected on the respective platform.
• Client Engagement Files & AML Checks: Kept for a minimum of 6 years after the relationship ends.

6. Your Rights

Under UK data protection laws, you possess the right to request access to your data, request correction of inaccuracies, request deletion where processing is no longer justified, object to specific processing bases, request structured data portability, or withdraw consent previously granted. Please target automated opt-out workflows or dispatch request instructions directly to enquiries@witheringtonandco.com.

7. Security & Complaints

We maintain robust technological and operational security safeguards to protect submitted visitor data. We are Cyber Essentials Plus certified.

If you have any concerns over how we handle your data, please communicate with us at enquiries@witheringtonandco.com. If your issue remains unresolved, you are legally entitled to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk.