Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Woodcock Accounting Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales, company number 17372946, registered office 82a James Carter Road, Mildenhall, IP28 7DE. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

We provide accountancy services to UK limited company contractors and freelancers. Woodcock Accounting Ltd is registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) as a firm of Chartered Accountants, firm registration number C011009896, and is supervised by ICAEW under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.

Data controller: Woodcock Accounting Ltd
Contact: ollie@woodcockaccounting.co.uk

As the data controller, we determine how and why your personal data is processed. This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and your rights under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. What personal data we collect and why

2.1 Waitlist and contact form submissions

When you submit our waitlist or contact form, we collect:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your company name (if provided)
• The nature of your enquiry
• Any additional information you include in your message

Legal basis: Consent (Article 6(1)(a) UK GDPR). You tick a consent box when submitting the form confirming you are happy to be contacted about our services.

Purpose: To respond to your enquiry and keep you informed about Woodcock Accounting's services.

Retention: We retain your details for up to 24 months from the date of submission, or until you ask to be removed — whichever comes first. If you become a client, your data transitions to our client records (see section 2.2).

2.2 Client records

Once you engage us as a client, we collect and process personal data necessary to provide accountancy services. This includes:

• Full name, date of birth, and home address
• National Insurance number and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
• Company registration details and financial records
• Bank account details (where required for payroll or billing)
• Identity documents (passport or driving licence, and proof of address) collected as part of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) due diligence
• Correspondence and instructions relating to your affairs

Legal basis: Contract (Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR) — processing is necessary to perform the services you have engaged us to provide. Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) — certain records must be retained to comply with HMRC requirements and AML regulations.

Retention: Client records are retained for a minimum of 6 years from the end of the relevant accounting period, in line with HMRC requirements. AML identity records are retained for 5 years from the end of the client relationship, in line with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.

2.3 Website usage data

When you visit our website, standard server logs may record your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and the time and date of your visit. This data is collected automatically by our hosting provider (Netlify) and is not linked to any personally identifiable information.

Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) — to maintain the security and performance of the website.

Retention: Standard server logs are typically retained for up to 30 days by Netlify.

3. How we share your data

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share it with third parties for marketing purposes. We may share your data in the following limited circumstances:

• HMRC and Companies House — where we are authorised to act as your agent, we submit returns and correspondence on your behalf.
• Software providers — we use FreeAgent to manage client bookkeeping and accounts. FreeAgent is a UK-based accounting platform subject to its own privacy policy and data processing terms.
• Form handling — contact and waitlist form submissions are processed by Netlify, our website hosting provider. Netlify stores form data on servers in the United States under appropriate safeguards (Standard Contractual Clauses or the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework). You can view Netlify's privacy policy at netlify.com/privacy.
• Payment processing — if you become a client, fees are collected by Direct Debit through GoCardless, which processes your billing details under its own privacy terms.
• Legal or regulatory requirement — if we are required by law, court order, or a regulatory authority to disclose your data, we will do so.
• Professional referrals — with your explicit consent, we may share relevant information with specialist advisers (for example, IR35 contract reviewers or IFAs) when referring your matter.

4. Your rights under UK GDPR

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data. To exercise any of them, contact us at ollie@woodcockaccounting.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month.

• Right of access — you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure — you can ask us to delete your data where we no longer have a lawful basis to hold it. Note that certain records (client files, AML records) must be retained for legal compliance periods even after the relationship ends.
• Right to restriction — you can ask us to restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability — where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you can request your data in a machine-readable format.
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent (e.g. waitlist and marketing communications), you can withdraw consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before withdrawal.
• Right to object — you can object to processing based on legitimate interests.

5. How to unsubscribe or be removed from our waitlist

If you have joined our waitlist or submitted a contact form and no longer wish to be contacted, you can ask to be removed at any time by emailing ollie@woodcockaccounting.co.uk with the subject line "Remove me from your list". We will process your request promptly and confirm once done.

6. Data security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. These include:

• Using password-protected, encrypted devices
• Storing client data only with reputable UK or EU-based providers with appropriate security certifications
• Limiting access to personal data to only those who need it to perform their role

No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. If you believe your data has been compromised, please contact us immediately.

7. Cookies

Our website uses cookies. For full details of the cookies we use and how to manage them, please see our Cookie Policy.

In summary: we set strictly necessary cookies so the site and its forms work, and — only if you accept — optional analytics cookies from Google Analytics 4. Google Analytics is not loaded unless you consent, so if you reject or ignore the banner, no analytics data is collected and nothing is sent to Google.

Where you do consent, we process anonymised usage data (pages viewed, approximate city-level location, device type, referring source) to understand how the site is used and improve it. The legal basis is your consent, and you may withdraw it at any time using the Cookie preferences link in the footer. Google Ireland Limited acts as our processor for this data; transfers outside the UK rely on the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses. We do not use this data to identify you.

8. Links to other websites

Our guides and pages may include links to external websites (for example, HMRC guidance, ICAEW resources, or specialist IR35 reviewers). This privacy policy does not apply to those websites. We recommend reviewing their own privacy policies before providing any personal information.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. We will not materially change how we use your data without notifying you if you are on our waitlist or are a current client.

10. How to complain

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first at ollie@woodcockaccounting.co.uk and we will do our best to resolve your concern.

If you remain unsatisfied, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113