Privacy Policy

Cowell's Garden Centre is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data responsibly, lawfully and transparently.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, why we use it, how long we keep it, and the rights you have in relation to your personal data.

Who we are

Cowell's Garden Centre operates a garden centre and online shop from:

Cowell's Garden Centre
Main Road
Woolsington
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE13 8BW

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use your personal data, please contact us at:

Email: office@cowellsgc.co.uk
Telephone: 0191 286 3403

How we collect personal data

We may collect personal data from you in the following ways:

When you place an order through our website or in store.
When you contact us by email, telephone, post, social media or through our website.
When you register for events, activities, workshops or customer accounts.
When you subscribe to our newsletter or marketing communications.
When you use our website, webshop or customer services.
When you apply for a job with us.
Through third-party service providers acting on our behalf, such as payment processors, delivery companies, website providers and marketing platforms.

What personal data we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect and process the following personal data:

Name, address, telephone number and email address.
Order details, delivery details, invoices, receipts and purchase history.
Payment information necessary to process your order. Online card payments are processed securely by accredited third-party payment providers. Cowell's Garden Centre does not store your full payment card details.
Customer service correspondence, including emails, letters, complaint records and notes of telephone conversations.
Information you provide about your garden, plants, pets, preferences or requirements where relevant to your enquiry or order.
Website usage information, such as IP address, browser type, pages visited, referral source and cookie data.
Marketing preferences and newsletter subscription information.
Job application information, including CVs, covering letters and related correspondence.

Telephone calls and call recordings

We may record telephone calls for quality assurance, staff training, customer service, maintaining accurate records, dispute resolution and to protect the legitimate interests of Cowell's Garden Centre.

Call recordings may be used to review customer enquiries, investigate complaints, confirm what advice or information was provided, and assist with the resolution of disputes.

We process call recordings on the basis of our legitimate interests in providing effective customer service, training our staff, maintaining accurate business records and protecting our business. Recordings are retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for these purposes, or for longer where required in connection with an ongoing complaint, dispute, insurance claim, legal proceedings or regulatory requirement.

Why we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To process and fulfil orders.
To arrange delivery, collection, returns, refunds or replacements.
To respond to enquiries, complaints and customer service requests.
To provide product information, aftercare advice, usage guidance and order-related updates.
To manage customer accounts, event bookings, workshops and loyalty or customer card schemes.
To send marketing communications where you have consented or where we are otherwise permitted to do so.
To improve our website, products, services and customer experience.
To maintain business records, accounts and internal administration.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting and regulatory obligations.
To prevent fraud, protect our business and resolve disputes.

Our lawful basis for processing personal data

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using your personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract: where processing is necessary to fulfil an order, provide goods or services, arrange delivery or deal with order-related matters.
Legal obligation: where we need to keep records or provide information to comply with tax, accounting, consumer law or other legal requirements.
Legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for customer service, business administration, staff training, complaint handling, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, website improvement or protecting our business.
Consent: where you have given consent, for example to receive certain marketing communications.

Marketing communications

We may send you marketing communications by email where you have subscribed to our newsletter or where we are otherwise permitted to do so.

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us at office@cowellsgc.co.uk.

We will not sell your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

Who we share your personal data with

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the operation of our business and provision of our services. This may include:

Payment processors.
Delivery and courier companies.
Website, webshop and IT service providers.
Email marketing platforms.
Professional advisers, such as accountants, insurers or legal advisers.
Suppliers, where necessary to resolve a product query or complaint.
Government bodies, regulators or law enforcement agencies where required by law.

Where third parties process personal data on our behalf, we require them to keep your data secure and only use it for the agreed purpose.

Cookies and website data

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help the website function, improve your browsing experience, understand how the website is used and support marketing activity.

Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before placing non-essential cookies on your device.

Cookies may collect information such as:

IP address.
Date and time of visit.
Pages visited.
Browser type and version.
Device and operating system information.
Referral source.
Website usage behaviour.

Functional cookies

Functional cookies are used to make the website work properly, remember preferences, support shopping basket functionality and improve usability.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies help us understand how visitors use our website so that we can improve performance, content and customer experience.

Tracking and advertising cookies

Tracking and advertising cookies may be used to help provide relevant content, measure advertising performance and improve the effectiveness of our marketing.

You can usually adjust your browser settings to refuse or delete cookies. Some parts of our website may not function properly if cookies are disabled.

Social media

Our website may include links or buttons for social media platforms. These platforms may collect data about your interaction with those features. We are not responsible for how social media platforms process your personal data. Please refer to the privacy policies of the relevant platforms for more information.

How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including to fulfil orders, provide customer service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes and maintain business records.

Typical retention periods include:

Order, invoice and accounting records: retained as required for tax and accounting purposes.
Customer service correspondence: retained for as long as reasonably necessary to manage the enquiry, complaint or customer relationship.
Call recordings: retained only for as long as reasonably necessary, or longer where needed for an ongoing complaint, dispute or legal claim.
Marketing data: retained until you unsubscribe or ask us to stop contacting you.
Job application data: retained only for as long as necessary for recruitment purposes, unless a longer period is agreed or required by law.

How we protect your personal data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

Access to personal data is restricted to those who need it for legitimate business purposes.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have rights in relation to your personal data. These may include the right to:

Request access to the personal data we hold about you.
Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances.
Ask us to restrict how we use your personal data.
Object to certain uses of your personal data.
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
Request a copy of your data in a portable format in certain circumstances.

To exercise your rights, please contact us at office@cowellsgc.co.uk.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

Subject access requests

You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. This may include customer records, correspondence and call recordings where applicable.

We will respond to valid requests within the timescales required by UK data protection law. In most cases this will be within one month of receiving your request.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we use your personal data, please contact us first so that we can try to resolve your concern.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection matters.

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Website: https://ico.org.uk

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business, website, services or legal requirements.

The latest version will be published on this page.

Questions about your personal data

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your data protection rights, request access to your personal data, ask us to correct or delete information we hold about you, or have any other privacy-related enquiry, please contact us using the details below.