First Business Solutions Ltd Privacy Policy

WHO WE ARE

First Business Solutions Ltd, based at The Studio Kings Langlei, Matts Hill Road, Hartlip, Kent ME9 7XA which hereafter for the purposes of this Privacy Notice will be referred to as FBS.

Telephone 01634 386869

Email address: info@firstbusinesssolutions.co.uk

We are a business development and consultancy company. We can support with business and project development and grant funding opportunities. We are not a grant funder and we cannot influence the decisions of grant funders. You are legally responsible for abiding by the rules and regulations as set our by any grant funder you work with as well as any other regulatory body.

OUR LEGAL GROUNDS FOR HANDLING YOUR PERSONAL DATA

The UK’s data protection laws allow us to use your personal data provided we have a lawful basis to do so. This includes sharing it in certain circumstances, as described below.

We consider we have the following reasons (legal bases) to use your personal data:

Performance of contract with you: we need to use your personal data to be able to successfully legally contract with you.
Compliance with our legal obligations: we need to use your personal data so as to comply with certain legislation.
Your consent: we may also use your data when you consent to it. You can withdraw this consent at any time, in which case we will cease to use it, unless we have a right and a need to continue processing it for one of the other reasons set out above.

More information on how we use your personal data and for what purposes is set out below.

WHAT PERSONAL DATA IS COLLECTED ABOUT YOU AND HOW WE COLLECT IT?

We may collect data about you from the following sources:

Data provided by you

When you contract our services and throughout the course of our dealings: for example, your name, postal address, national insurance number, your email address, your telephone numbers, date of birth, bank account details, company details, details of your proof of identity documentation, proof of address documentation, evidence of any other business interests
When you talk to us: for example on the phone, or in person including call recordings and voice messages. We may monitor or record calls with you to check we have carried out your instructions, to resolve queries or disputes, to improve the quality of our service or for regulatory or fraud prevention purposes
In writing: for example letters, emails, texts and other electronic communications
Online: for example when you use our website or mobile app
In financial reviews, for renewals and in any surveys etc.

Data we collect when you use our services:

Payment data: for example, the amount, origin, frequency, history and method of your payments.

Data provided by third parties:

Data from persons that introduce you to us: for example companies, individuals, independent advisers, or other third parties
Data from credit reference agencies, most likely to be either Experian, Creditsafe, Equifax, CallCredit or Clear Score.
Data from fraud prevention agencies
Publicly available information: for example, from the land registry, companies house, the electoral register, other information available online or in the media, including social media
Data from your representatives where relevant: for example your legal and financial advisers such as lawyers and accountants**

**We may also require a statement signed by an independent qualified accountant as to your financial worth which may include information such as your gross and net worth, your assets and liabilities and information as to your available collateral or security. You will be asked to consent to the provision of this information.

WHY PERSONAL DATA IS COLLECTED BY US

We collect personal data from you for many reasons including:

Activity: Exercising our contractual rights and obligations

Legal Basis: Contract performance.

Activity: Pre contractual checks, post contractual checks, customer service, account management.

Legal Basis: Contract performance, legitimate interests, legal duty, consent.

Legal Basis: Verifying identity, maintaining up to date records, seeking consent where relevant, business efficacy, risk management.

Activity: Product analysis and development, business development, profiling statistical and analytics

Legal Basis : Legitimate interests, contract performance.

Legitimate interest: Business efficacy, risk management, product development.

Activity: Regulatory and legal requirements, managing risk, business management and operations, including record keeping.

Legal Basis : legitimate interests, legal duty, contract performance.

Legitimate interest: Business compliance, business efficacy, risk management.

Activity: Recovery of money owed to us, reporting to credit reference agencies and fraud prevention agencies.

Legal Basis : Contract performance, legitimate interests, legal duty.

Legitimate interest: Business compliance, business efficacy, risk management.

Activity: Marketing, research

Legal Basis : Consent, legitimate interests.

Legitimate interest: Business development, business efficacy, brand management.

From time to time we may contact you to ask for your consent to use your personal data for other purposes. Your personal data may also be used for other purposes where required or permitted by law.

When we and fraud prevention agencies process your personal data, we do so on the basis that we have a legitimate interest in preventing fraud and money laundering, and to verify identity, in order to protect our business and to comply with laws that apply to us. Such processing is also a contractual requirement of the services you have requested. We, and fraud prevention agencies, may also enable law enforcement agencies to access and use your personal data to detect, investigate and prevent crime. Fraud prevention agencies can hold your personal data for different periods of time, and if you are considered to pose a fraud or money laundering risk, your data can be held for up to six years.

From time to time we may provide your information to our partners, third parties and customer service agencies for research and analysis purposes so that we can monitor and improve the services (or as the case may be) we provide. We may contact you by post, e-mail or telephone (or as required) to ask you for your feedback and comments on our services (or as the case may be).

From time to time we may also contact you about our other goods or services that may be of interest to you.

WHEN PERSONAL DATA IS SHARED

Your personal data may be used by our partners, agents, sub-contractors, lawyers and by any of our or their subsidiary or associated companies before, during and after your agreement with us.

We may also use organisations to perform tasks on our behalf including information technology service providers, who we will then be sharing your personal data with and who may also process and retain your data both before, during and after your agreement with us.

We may make automated decisions on certain matters. You have the right to object to your personal information being used to make a decision based on an automatic process without human intervention.

Any of these third parties may contact you by post, e-mail or telephone (or as required). They may use your personal data to communicate with you on any matter relating to your agreement with us.

We may also share your personal data with CRAs, fraud prevention agencies, law enforcement agencies, regulators and other authorities, the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme, any agent that you have given us authority to communicate with and persons you ask us to share your data with, companies that we introduce you to, market researchers tracing and debt recovery agencies and customer service agencies for the purposes set out above. These agencies and firms may also share your personal data with others.

If, in the future, we sell, transfer or merge all or part of our business or assets, including the acquisition of other businesses, we may share your data with other parties. We will only do this if they agree to keep it safe and private and to only use it in the same ways as set out in this notice.

CONSEQUENCES

If we, or a fraud prevention agency, determine that you pose a fraud or money laundering risk, we may refuse to provide the services you have requested or we may stop providing existing services to you. A record of any fraud or money laundering risk will be retained by the fraud prevention agencies, and may result in others refusing to provide services, or employment to you.

If you fail to provide us with data we require, this may delay or prevent us from entering into a contract with you and or complying with our obligations. Depending on the importance of the data, it may mean that we are entitled to terminate an agreement with you.

If you have any questions about the above, please contact us on the details above.

WHAT CHOICES AND RIGHTS YOU HAVE

Your personal data is protected by legal rights, which include your right to:

object to our controlling and processing your personal data;
object to our sharing of your personal data with others or with certain organisations;
request that your personal data is erased or corrected or that its processing be restricted;
request access to your personal data and for it to be given to you in a portable format;
request that we confirm what personal data we currently control and/or process in relation to you.

There may be reasons why we need to keep or use your data, but please tell us if you think we should not be processing your data.

For further information on how your information is used, how we maintain the security of your information and your rights in relation to it, please contact info@firstbusinessgroup.co.uk.

If you are unhappy about how your personal data has been used by us please contact us and we will send to you our Complaints Process. You also have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office which regulates the processing of personal data. You can contact them at Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, on 0303 123 1113 or by email to casework@ico.org.uk. See also https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/.

HOW LONG PERSONAL DATA IS KEPT

We will retain your personal data throughout the duration of your agreement and or as long as you are a customer with us. We may retain your personal data beyond this date for the purposes mentioned above and will in any case at all times retain your personal data for the minimum period required by law. We may also retain your data to deal with any disputes, to maintain records and to show we have dealt with you fairly.

We may also retain your data for research and statistical purposes in which case we will ensure it is kept private and used only for these purposes.

Data about live and settled accounts is kept on credit files for six years from the date they’re settled or closed. If the account is recorded as defaulted, the data is kept for six years from the date of the default.

DIRECT MARKETING

We can only use your personal information to send you marketing information if we have your consent or a legitimate interest. A legitimate interest will usually be a commercial reason which cannot be used unfairly against you.

All of our calls are recorded for monitoring and training purposes.