GC Trade 68 Ltd (“we”, “us” or “our”) takes the privacy of everyone who visits our website, places an order or opens a trade account seriously. This policy explains what personal information we hold, how we use it, the legal grounds we rely on, and the rights available to you under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. Who we are and how to contact us
1.1 We are the data controller responsible for your personal information. GC Trade 68 Ltd is registered in England and Wales under company number 16523391, with its registered office at 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX.
1.2 Our trading and correspondence address is Unit 3 Meadow Business Park, Piperell Way, Haverhill, Suffolk, CB9 8QX.
1.3 For any question about this policy, or to exercise your rights, write to us at the address above or email sales@gctrade68.com, marking your message for the attention of our data protection contact.
2. Scope
2.1 This policy covers information we collect through our website, by telephone, by email, and in the course of supplying goods to you.
2.2 Our website may link to third-party sites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, and we encourage you to read their policies before sharing information with them.
3. The information we collect
3.1 Identity and contact data — your name, business or trading name, billing and delivery addresses, email address and telephone number.
3.2 Order and transaction data — the products you have bought, order values, delivery details and related correspondence.
3.3 Trade-account data — where you apply for a credit account, the information given on the application, including trading history, bank details, trade references and the identity of directors, partners or proprietors.
3.4 Payment data — payments are handled by our payment providers. We do not store full card numbers on our systems; we receive confirmation of payment and limited transaction references.
3.5 Artwork and personalisation data — logos, designs, text and instructions you supply for embroidered or printed goods.
3.6 Technical and usage data — your IP address, browser and device information, and how you use our website, gathered through cookies and server logs (see our Cookies Policy).
3.7 Marketing data — your marketing and communication preferences.
3.8 We do not intentionally collect special category data, such as information about health, race or religious beliefs, and we ask that you do not send it to us.
4. How we collect your information
4.1 Directly from you — when you place an order, open an account, apply for credit, complete a form, subscribe to our newsletter or contact us.
4.2 Automatically — as you use our website, through cookies and server logs.
4.3 From third parties — our payment providers and delivery partners, and, where you apply for credit, credit reference and fraud prevention agencies.
5. How we use your information, and our legal grounds
5.1 To perform our contract with you — to process and deliver your orders, take payment, provide support and manage your account.
5.2 To meet our legal obligations — including accounting, tax and consumer-protection requirements.
5.3 For our legitimate interests — to run, improve and secure our business and website, prevent fraud, keep proper records and recover debts, where your interests and rights do not override those interests.
5.4 With your consent — for certain marketing and for non-essential cookies, which you may withdraw at any time.
6. Marketing communications
6.1 Where you have bought from us, we may send you information about similar products by email unless you have told us not to — the “soft opt-in” permitted by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.
6.2 For all other direct marketing we rely on your consent.
6.3 Every marketing message carries an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time by contacting us. Opting out does not stop the messages we must send you about your orders.
7. Credit accounts, credit reference and fraud prevention agencies
7.1 If you apply for a trade credit account, we and our finance partners may search records held by credit reference and fraud prevention agencies to verify identity, assess creditworthiness and manage the account.
7.2 Those agencies may keep a record of our search and of how the account is run. This can affect the ability of the business — and, for sole traders and partnerships, the individuals concerned — to obtain credit elsewhere.
7.3 Where we detect or suspect fraud, we may record this and share relevant details with fraud prevention agencies, which may use them to prevent fraud and money laundering. Our grounds are the performance of the contract and our legitimate interest in managing credit risk.
8. Who we share your information with
8.1 Payment providers — PayPal and Stripe, which process card payments and Bacs Direct Debit instructions on our behalf.
8.2 Delivery partners — couriers and postal operators, to fulfil your orders.
8.3 Service providers — our website host and IT and email providers, acting on our instructions.
8.4 Professional advisers — accountants, auditors and lawyers, where necessary.
8.5 Credit reference and fraud prevention agencies — as described in section 7.
8.6 Regulators and authorities — where the law requires it.
8.7 A buyer or successor — if we sell or reorganise our business.
8.8 We do not sell your personal information to anyone.
9. International transfers
9.1 Most of your information is processed within the UK. Where a provider processes information outside the UK, we make sure an appropriate safeguard is in place, such as a UK adequacy regulation or the International Data Transfer Agreement.
10. Keeping your information secure
10.1 We use appropriate technical and organisational measures — including encryption in transit, access controls and secure hosting — to protect your information. No transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure, and any transmission is at your own risk.
11. How long we keep your information
11.1 We keep order and accounting records for six years after the end of the relevant financial year, in line with HM Revenue & Customs and Companies Act 2006 requirements.
11.2 Credit-account records are kept for up to six years after the account is closed.
11.3 Marketing preferences are kept until you withdraw consent or object.
11.4 When information is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymise it.
12. Your rights
12.1 You have the right to be informed; to access your information; to have it corrected or erased; to restrict or object to its use; to portability; and to withdraw consent.
12.2 To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 1. We will respond within one month. We may need to confirm your identity, and in limited cases we may be unable to comply, in which case we will explain why.
12.3 Exercising these rights is normally free of charge.
13. Children
13.1 Our website and products are directed at businesses and adults. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 18.
14. Changes to this policy
14.1 We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always on our website, and the date at the top shows when it was last revised.
15. How to complain
15.1 If you are unhappy with how we handle your information, please contact us first so we can try to put it right.
15.2 You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (the UK’s data protection regulator) at ico.org.uk, by telephone on 0303 123 1113, or by writing to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.