Ashridge Trees Limited Privacy Policy
We do our best to supply you with top-quality plants at fair prices with the best service possible. To do that, we gather information about you and because your privacy matters, we want you to be satisfied that information is safe and secure. This Privacy Policy tells know how we store and use that information to give you a better, more personalised experience.
You will also learn how we collect your personal information and your rights and choices when it comes to these details.
Updated: 13 July 2023
1. What this Privacy Policy covers
This is the Privacy Policy for ashridgetrees.co.uk (the "Site").
For the purposes of this policy, the data controller is Ashridge Trees Limited (referred to here as "we", "us", or "our"). Please note that the trading name of Ashridge Trees Limited is “Ashridge Nurseries” and that the two are interchangeable.
This Policy explains:
the personal information we collect;
how and why we collect and use that information;
why we process your personal information;
when and why we will disclose your personal information;
the rights and choices you have when it comes to your personal information;
why we use cookies;
the steps we take to ensure your information is kept secure and confidential;
how long we will hold your information for; and
how to contact us.
Our Site contains links to third-party websites that are not subject to this Privacy Policy. Please read our Terms and Conditions for further information on these links. Always make sure you read a third party's terms and conditions and privacy policy carefully before providing any personal information on a third-party website, as we cannot accept any responsibility or liability for those third-party websites.
2. The Personal Information we collect
When you register with us to receive any of our emails, you must provide us with your email address.
When you buy from us, you must provide us with personal details, including, without limitation, your name, postal and billing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, title and some limited credit card and/or bank information.
When you visit our Site, we may collect information about your online browsing behaviour and any devices you have used to access our Site (including your IP address, browser type and mobile device identifiers)
3. How we collect and use your personal information
This section explains how we collect and use your personal information.
3.1. Ashridge email Newsletter/Tipsheet
We collect your email address when you register to receive emails from us. We use this to send you the emails you have requested. The tipsheet is generally sent monthly, and offer emails will happen at intervals depending on weather, season etc.
3.2. Product Purchases
We collect your personal information from you when you place an order with us. We use this to identify, manage, deliver and subsequently support your order. If we need to pass your personal information to a third party to meet your request except for the purpose of delivery (see below), we will make it clear at the time you submit your details. If that happens, then in line with section 1 above, we advise you to read the privacy policies of whichever third parties we tell you about.
3.3. Product Delivery
We use third-party couriers to deliver your purchases. For them to do this, we need to share some of your personal information, including but not limited to your title, name, delivery address, email addresses and phone number(s), as well as basic consignment information. We only use reputable delivery companies, and we believe their privacy policies to be appropriate for the service they deliver.
3.4. Internal reporting, insight and analysis
We may also use the personal information referred to in this section 3 to generate aggregated, anonymised data for the purposes of internal reporting, insight and analysis, enabling us to improve and personalise our Site, the products we offer and the search results for our Site. Where necessary, this exercise may be carried out on our behalf by a third party – please see section 7 below.
3.5. Site personalisation
We may use your personal information to personalise aspects of our Site, enabling your details to be moved across our tools to speed up form filling and for market research. As part of this, we may match your personal information against information that has been collected by a third party. We are always working to make a better Site for you, and using your information in this way helps us to do this. It also means that if you've given us permission, any email we send to you is appropriate for your needs.
3.6. Contacting you
We collect and may use your personal information to:
3.6.1 contact you in response to communications you have sent to us. We want to help you, so we use your personal data to provide clarification or assistance in response to your communications;
3.6.2 invite you to take part in polls and other market research activities carried out by us or by other organisations on our behalf. Any feedback you provide will only be used to improve our Site and will not be published. However, if we contact you about this, you do not have to respond;
3.6.3 award you a prize if you have won a competition we're running.
4. Why do we process your personal information?
We will only collect and use your personal information (as described in sections 2 and 3) in accordance with data protection laws. Our grounds for processing your personal information are as follows:
Consent – Where necessary, we will only collect and process your personal information if you have consented for us to do so. For example, when you register to receive emails from us, we will use your personal information to provide the services detailed in section 3.1
Legitimate Interests – We may use and process some of your personal information where we have sensible and legitimate business grounds for doing so. Under UK privacy laws, there is a concept of "legitimate interests" as a justification for processing your personal information. Our legitimate interests for processing your personal information are:
to enable you to access and use the Site;
to communicate with you about your purchases. For example, sending you a series of confirmation and update emails after you have placed an order with us. Unless you have agreed to the contrary, this will not include any non-purchase specific emails or other communications
to enable us to properly and efficiently serve any claims you may have under our Guarantee and/or other terms and conditions of sale; and
to improve our Site. We may use your personal information to undertake demographic segmentation and generate profiling information to help us understand what you might be interested in and for market research. We are always working to make a better Site for you, and using your personal information in this way helps us to do this.
You will have a right to object to our use of your personal information for these legitimate interests, including a right to object to profiling by us (see section 8 below).
5. Use of children's personal information
We do not knowingly collect or store any personal information about children under the age of 16. If you are aged under 16, please get your parent or guardian's permission before you provide any personal information to us.
6. Third Party Personal Information and Personal Information Review
6.1 If you're providing us with another person's personal information, you should first ask them to read this Privacy Policy and our Terms and Conditions. By giving us personal information about another person, you are confirming that they have given you consent to provide their personal information to us and that they understand how their details will be used.
6.2 We will periodically review your personal information to ensure that we do not keep it for longer than is permitted by law (see section 12 below).
7. Disclosure of your personal information to other organisations
The personal information that we collect when you use our Site is confidential. We may disclose your personal information to a third party in the following circumstances:
7.1. Our service providers – as described in sections 3.2 to 3.5 above, and for the purposes of providing certain services and enabling your interaction with the Site. Our technical partners will not be permitted to use your personal information for their own marketing purposes unless you have consented to receive marketing from them on another site, as we won't ask for your permission to do so on our Site.
7.2. If required or allowed to do so by law;
7.3. If ordered to by any court or any other applicable regulatory, compliance, governmental or law enforcement agency;
7.4. If necessary in connection with legal proceedings or potential legal proceedings;
7.5. If the ownership of all or part of our Site is transferred, in which case any purchaser would only be entitled to use that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy; and
7.6. In line with our own Terms and Conditions.
8. How you can change permissions
All emails or other forms of communication directly from us to you will include clear instructions on how to unsubscribe or amend your subscription preferences. In addition, if you don't want to be contacted by us anymore, you can simply Contact Us. Section 9 below also sets out your other information rights.
9. Your information rights and responsibilities
9.1. You already have certain rights under existing data protection legislation, including the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold on you if you request it in writing. From 25 May 2018 you also had the following rights:
9.1.1. Right to correct: the right to have your personal information amended if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
9.1.2. Right to erase: the right to request that we delete or remove your personal information from our systems;
9.1.3. Right to restrict our use of your information: the right to 'block' us from using your personal information or limit the ways in which we can use it;
9.1.4. Right to data portability: the right to request that we move, copy or transfer your personal information;
9.1.5. Right to object: the right to object to our use of your personal information, including where we use it for our legitimate interests or where we use your personal information to carry out profiling to inform our market research and user demographics. If you raise an objection, we will stop processing your personal information unless exceptional circumstances apply, in which case we will let you know why we're continuing to process your personal information.
We will use reasonable efforts consistent with our legal duty to provide you with your rights in accordance with data protection legislation.
9.2. To make enquiries, exercise any of your rights set out in this Privacy Policy and/or make a complaint, please Contact Us or write to the Data Protection Officer at Ashridge Trees Limited, Grove Cross Barn, Castle Cary, Somerset BA7 7NJ.
9.3. If you're not satisfied with the way any complaint you make in relation to your personal information is handled by us, then you may be able to refer your complaint to the relevant data protection regulator. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner's Office.
10. Cookies
10.1. We use cookies (files which are sent by us to your computer or other access devices) and tracking technology to help to improve the functionality and performance of our Site.
10.2. The information derived from our use of cookies will be aggregated to generate statistical information about the usage of our Site. However, we do not use any information derived from cookies, nor any IP addresses we collect, to identify any individual user of our Site.
10.3. Some third-party technologies we use (e.g. embedded videos, social sharing) also use cookies to improve your experience on their sites.
11. Keeping your personal information secure
11.1. Keeping your personal information secure is important so we store and process it in accordance with the high standards required under data protection legislation. Although we have never done so, it is conceivable that in the future, for operational reasons, the personal information we collect from you may be transferred to and stored in countries outside the UK. Your information may also be processed by some of our service providers, which may be based outside the UK. Different countries have different data protection and security laws, and some of these do not offer the same level of protection as you enjoy under UK data protection legislation. However, when we appoint our service providers to help us provide products and services to you (which may include some based in the USA), we take care to ensure that they have appropriate security measures in place.
11.2. We do our best to keep the information you disclose to us secure. However, we can't guarantee its security. By using our Site, you accept the inherent risks of providing information online, and you agree not to hold us responsible for any breach of security.
12. How long do we keep your personal information?
Unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, we will only hold your personal information on our systems for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy or until you request it is deleted. If, having registered for any of our services, you do not use them for a reasonable time (which may vary depending on the service(s) you've registered for) we may contact you to ensure you're still happy to receive communications from us. Even if we delete your personal information, it may persist on a backup or archival media for legal, tax or regulatory purposes.
13. How to contact us
Our Data Protection Officer is Ashridge Trees Limited's Managing Director.
If you have any queries relating to our use of your personal information or any other related data protection questions, please Contact Us or write to the Data Protection Officer at Ashridge Trees Limited, Grove Cross Barn, Castle Cary, Somerset BA7 7NJ.
14. Changes
This policy, as subsequently amended, came into force on 11 November 2018 and replaced with immediate effect any preceding Privacy Policy. We may, from time to time, make further changes to this Policy to reflect any changes to our privacy practices in accordance with changes to legislation, best practices or Site enhancements. We will let you know what these changes are by posting them on this page. Where the changes are significant, we may also choose to email you with the new details and get your consent to make these changes where required by law. It is your responsibility as a user to make sure that you are aware of changes posted on this page by checking for any changes on a regular basis. Changes posted on this page will become effective as soon as they are posted.
Effective as of 11 November 2018
Last updated 28th July 2023