PRIVACY & COOKIE POLICY
Last updated: 21 September 2026
This page explains what personal information we collect when you use our website or contact us, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. It also explains how we use cookies.
1. Who we are
Southwell Construction Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”) is the controller of the personal information described in this policy. We provide brickwork, landscaping, groundwork and property maintenance services in Hampshire and along the South Coast.
- Company: Southwell Construction Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17253128
- Registered office: 9 St. Lukes Road, Gosport, United Kingdom, PO12 3JN
- Privacy contact: Louis Southwell, Director
- Email: info@southwellconstructionltd.com
- Phone: 07746 953 269
2. What information we collect
Information you give us
- Enquiries: your name, phone number, email address, the type of work you want and the description of your project you type into our contact form, or send us by email, phone, text or WhatsApp.
- If you become a customer: your property address, details of the work, quotes, contracts, photos of the work, payment records and correspondence.
Information collected automatically
- Technical data: your IP address, browser type and the pages requested. This is handled by our website host (Cloudflare) to deliver and protect the site.
- If you allow Google measurement cookies: whether you arrived from a Google ad and whether you then called, emailed, messaged us on WhatsApp or sent the contact form. We do not use this for advertising to you later (no remarketing).
We do not knowingly collect special category data (such as health information) and ask that you do not include it in your enquiry.
3. How and why we use it
We must have a lawful reason (a “lawful basis”) to use your personal information. These are ours:
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry, arrange a visit and prepare a quote | Taking steps at your request before a contract, and our legitimate interest in running our business |
| Carry out and manage work for you, and invoice you | Performing our contract with you |
| Keep accounting, tax, insurance and health and safety records | Legal obligation |
| Deal with complaints, warranty issues or legal claims | Legitimate interests (protecting our business) and legal obligation |
| Keep the website secure and working | Legitimate interests |
| Measure which Google ads lead to enquiries (optional cookies) | Your consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Show Google Maps and Trustpilot reviews on the site (optional cookies) | Your consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Ask for a review after a job | Legitimate interests (customer feedback) |
We do not sell your personal information. We will only send you marketing by email or text if you have asked us to, or where the law otherwise allows, and you can opt out at any time.
4. Who we share it with
We only share personal information where we need to. This can include:
- Formspree – the service that passes the contact form message to us by email.
- Cloudflare – hosts and protects this website.
- Google – Google Ads measurement and (if enabled) Google Analytics, only if you allow them; Google Maps if you choose to show the map; and Google Fonts, which your browser requests to display the site’s text styles, so Google receives your IP address.
- Trustpilot – to show review ratings, only if you allow embedded content.
- WhatsApp (Meta) – if you choose to message us there, under its own privacy terms.
- Our email and IT providers, accountants, insurers and professional advisers, and subcontractors or suppliers who need your details to carry out or supply your job.
- The police, HMRC, courts or other authorities where we are legally required to.
Where a company handles your information on our behalf, we ask them to protect it and use it only on our instructions.
5. Transfers outside the UK
Some of the companies above, such as Formspree, Google, Cloudflare and Trustpilot, may process information outside the UK, including in the United States. Where that happens we rely on safeguards recognised by UK law, such as the UK’s adequacy regulations (including the UK–US data bridge for certified companies), or the ICO-approved international data transfer agreement or UK Addendum to standard contractual clauses.
6. How long we keep it
- Enquiries that do not lead to work: up to 12 months.
- Customer records (quotes, contracts, invoices, correspondence): 6 years after the work ends, to meet tax and accounting rules and to deal with any claims.
- Cookie choice: stored in your browser for up to 12 months, then we ask again.
- Google cookies (if allowed): for the periods in the cookie table below.
We delete or anonymise information when we no longer need it.
7. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- be told how your information is used (this policy);
- ask for a copy of the information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
- ask us to delete your information, in some circumstances;
- ask us to restrict how we use your information, in some circumstances;
- object to us using your information where we rely on legitimate interests;
- ask for information you gave us in a portable format, where we use it under a contract or your consent;
- withdraw consent at any time, without affecting what we did before you withdrew it.
To use any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 1. We will reply within one month and will not charge a fee unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive. We may need to check your identity first.
8. Cookies and similar technologies
Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website. We also use similar technologies such as browser storage. We only use essential items without asking you. Everything else is switched off until you allow it through our cookie banner, and it stays off if you reject it.
| Name | Set by | What it does | Lasts | Needs your permission? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
sw_consent (browser storage) | This website | Remembers your cookie choices | Up to 12 months | No, essential |
_gcl_au, _gcl_aw | Google Ads | Records that you arrived from a Google ad so we can count calls, emails and enquiries that follow | Up to 90 days | Yes |
_ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics (only if we switch it on) | Counts visits and which pages are used | Up to 2 years | Yes |
| Google Maps cookies | Display the map. Google sets its own cookies when the map loads | Set by Google | Yes | |
| Trustpilot cookies | Trustpilot | Display our review rating. Trustpilot sets its own cookies when the widget loads | Set by Trustpilot | Yes |
Our website host, Cloudflare, may also use strictly necessary security cookies to protect the site from harmful traffic. These do not need your permission.
Change your mind
You can change or withdraw your choices at any time. If you withdraw permission, we remove the Google cookies we can and reload the page.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking essential storage may mean the banner appears on every visit. To learn more about how Google uses information, see policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
9. Security
This website uses HTTPS encryption. We keep customer records in access-controlled systems and only share them with people who need them. No system is completely secure, so please do not send us payment card details by email or through the contact form.
10. Children, links and changes
Children: our services and website are not aimed at anyone under 18 and we do not knowingly collect their information.
Links: our website links to other sites such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google and Trustpilot. They have their own privacy policies and we are not responsible for them.
Changes: we may update this policy. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make a significant change, we will ask for your cookie choices again.
11. Contact us and complaints
If you have a question about this policy or how we use your information, contact Louis Southwell at info@southwellconstructionltd.com or on 07746 953 269.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, or call 0303 123 1113. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first.