Privacy notice

1. Who we are

ABC North East Limited is the data controller for the personal information described in this notice. We are a private limited company registered in England & Wales (company number 06796066), with our registered office at 2 Auton Court, Bearpark, Durham DH7 7AW. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), registration number Z3451430.

If you have any questions about this notice or how we use your information, please contact Dawn at dawn@abcnortheast.co.uk or on 07932 078140.

2. Information we collect

When you contact us through our website form, by email or by phone, we collect your name, email address, phone number (if given) and anything you tell us in your message.

When you become a client, we collect the information we need to provide our services. Depending on the work, this may include your contact details, date of birth, National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference, bank details, proof of identity and address, and financial information about you or your business, such as income, expenses, payroll and employee details.

When you visit our website, we do not use cookies, analytics or tracking tools. Like all websites, our hosting provider automatically records basic technical information, such as your IP address and browser type, in server logs for security purposes.

3. How we use your information, and our lawful basis

• To respond to your enquiry and, if you ask us to, prepare a proposal. Our lawful basis is taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, and our legitimate interest in replying to people who contact us.
• To provide our accountancy, tax and advisory services, as set out in our engagement letter. Our lawful basis is the performance of our contract with you.
• To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, including anti-money laundering identity checks, record-keeping, and the professional rules of the ICAEW. Our lawful basis is compliance with a legal obligation.
• To run our business, for example billing, keeping our records up to date, and defending legal claims. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interests.
• To send you occasional updates about tax deadlines or services that may be relevant to you. We will only do this where you are a client and have not opted out, or where you have given consent. You can unsubscribe at any time.

4. Who we share your information with

We never sell your personal information. We only share it where necessary, with:

• HM Revenue & Customs, Companies House and other government bodies, when we act on your behalf or are required to by law;
• our professional body, the ICAEW, and our professional indemnity insurers, where required for regulatory or insurance purposes;
• trusted service providers who help us run our business, such as our IT, email, cloud accounting software and website hosting providers, who may only use your information on our instructions;
• FormSubmit (formsubmit.co), the service that delivers messages sent through our website contact form to our email inbox;
• law enforcement or other authorities, where we are legally required to do so, for example under anti-money laundering legislation.

5. International transfers

Some of our service providers, including our website form provider, may process information outside the UK. Where this happens, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement.

6. How long we keep your information

• Enquiries that do not lead to us working together are kept for up to 12 months, then deleted.
• Client records are kept for at least 6 years after our engagement ends, in line with tax law and professional requirements.
• Anti-money laundering records are kept for 5 years after our business relationship ends, as required by law.

7. Keeping your information secure

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including password-protected and encrypted systems, secure client portals, and limiting access to those who need it. Our team is bound by professional duties of confidentiality.

8. Your rights

You have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
• ask us to delete your information, where we are not legally required to keep it;
• ask us to restrict how we use your information, or object to us using it;
• ask us to transfer your information to another organisation;
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To make a request, email dawn@abcnortheast.co.uk. We will respond within one month and there is normally no charge.

9. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact us first so we can try to put things right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

10. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top.