Privacy Policy

Who we are

This website is operated by Cheshire Landscape Gardener, the trading name of Jason Costello (company number 14562897). We are the "data controller" for the purposes of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 — we decide why and how any personal data you give us is used.

Address: Mere Corner Cottage, Chester Road, Mere, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 0PU
Phone: 07742 611273
Email: jason@cheshire-landscape-gardener.com

If you have any questions about this policy or how your data is handled, contact us using any of the details above.

What information we collect

We collect personal data in the following ways:

• The quote request form on our contact page — your name, email address, phone number, the area your garden is in, and any project details you write. Submitting the form sends this information to our website server, which emails it straight to us at jason@cheshire-landscape-gardener.com and does not save a copy in any database or file — the server only handles it in passing, to relay it as an email. From that point, it's held as an ordinary email in our inbox (see "How long we keep your information" below).
• Phone calls, WhatsApp messages, or emails you send us directly — your phone number, WhatsApp profile details, email address, and whatever you tell us about your project (including any photos you choose to share).
• Automatically, via cookies when you browse the site — see "Analytics and advertising cookies" below.

Analytics and advertising cookies

This website uses Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Ads conversion tracking to understand how visitors use the site and how well our advertising works. These set cookies in your browser and share some information with Google, including:

• Pages you visit, roughly how you arrived at the site (e.g. via a Google ad or search), and general device/browser information
• Whether you completed our quote request form, recorded as an advertising "conversion" — this tells us an enquiry happened, not what you wrote in it
• Phone-call conversion tracking: if you arrive via a Google ad, the phone number shown on the site may be swapped for a Google forwarding number, so we can measure which ads lead to a call. Google processes the call event (and may record its length) as part of this — see Google's advertising cookie policy.

Google acts as an independent controller for the data it collects this way — see Google's Privacy Policy for details. You can opt out of Google Analytics using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, manage ad personalisation in your Google Account ad settings, or block cookies generally through your browser's settings.

How we use your information

We use the information you give us to:

• Respond to your enquiry and arrange a consultation or site visit
• Prepare and send you a quote
• Deliver and manage any work you go ahead with, including aftercare
• Keep records for our own accounting, legal and insurance purposes

We do not use your information for marketing emails or newsletters unless you separately and explicitly ask us to, and we never sell or rent your data to anyone.

Our legal basis for using your data

Under UK GDPR, we rely on:

• Contract / steps prior to a contract — to respond to your enquiry, provide a quote, and carry out any work you instruct us to do.
• Legitimate interests — to keep reasonable business records, such as past enquiries and completed jobs, for our own accounting and reference.
• Legal obligation — where we're required to keep certain records (for example, for tax purposes) by law.
• Consent — for the Google Analytics and Google Ads cookies described above. You can withdraw this at any time using the opt-out tools linked in that section, or by blocking cookies in your browser.

Who we share your information with

We don't sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes. Your information may pass through the following, purely to deliver the service you've asked for:

• Our website hosting provider's email service, to relay your quote-form submission to us
• Google (Google Analytics and Google Ads), for the cookie-based tracking described in "Analytics and advertising cookies" above
• WhatsApp (owned by Meta), only if you choose to message us via WhatsApp — that exchange is also subject to WhatsApp's own privacy policy
• Our accountant or bookkeeper, where necessary for invoicing and tax records
• Subcontractors or suppliers directly involved in your project, where relevant to carrying out the work (for example, sharing a site address for a materials delivery)

We would only disclose your information beyond this if required to by law — for example, in response to a valid request from a public authority.

How long we keep your information

We keep enquiry and project correspondence for as long as reasonably needed to deliver our service, respond to any follow-up questions, and meet our legal and accounting obligations — typically up to 7 years for records connected to completed work, in line with standard UK tax record-keeping requirements. Enquiries that don't lead to any work are not kept indefinitely and are deleted periodically.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Ask what personal data we hold about you, and get a copy of it
• Ask us to correct any information that's inaccurate or incomplete
• Ask us to delete your data, where there's no good reason for us to keep it
• Ask us to restrict how we use your data
• Object to us using your data for certain purposes
• Ask for your data in a portable format, where technically applicable

To exercise any of these rights, email jason@cheshire-landscape-gardener.com or call 07742 611273. We'll respond within one month.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — though we'd appreciate the chance to put things right first, so please get in touch with us directly if something's wrong.

Keeping your information secure

We take reasonable steps to protect any personal data you share with us, including keeping email correspondence in secure, password-protected accounts and limiting access to your information to those who need it to deliver your project. No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, but we do our best to protect your information and expect the same from any third party we work with.

Children's data

Our services are aimed at adults instructing landscaping and garden design work. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time — for example, if we change our enquiry process or the tools we use to run the website. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the current version. We'd encourage you to check back occasionally if you'd like to stay informed.