Legal
Privacy and cookie policy
Last updated: [insert date]
On this page
1. Who we are
Lavantage ("we", "us", "our") is a procurement consultancy. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy, which means we decide how and why it is used.
If you have any question about privacy, or you want to exercise any of the rights set out below, email us at info@lavantage.co.uk.
2. What we collect
We collect very little, and only what we need in order to reply to you or run our business.
Information you give us
- Enquiry form: your name, organisation, work email address, your role if you choose to select one, and whatever you write in the message box.
- Insights sign-up: your email address.
- Email and calls: anything you send us directly, and notes we make in the course of discussing a possible or live engagement.
Information collected automatically
- Server logs: our hosting provider records basic technical information such as IP address, browser type, the pages requested and the time of the request. This is used to serve the site, keep it secure and diagnose faults.
- Fonts: the site loads its typefaces from Google Fonts, which means your browser makes a request to Google's servers and Google receives your IP address. See Google's privacy policy.
We do not use advertising trackers, and we do not buy or sell personal information.
3. Why we use it, and our lawful basis
| What we do | Information used | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry and arrange a call | Name, organisation, email, role, message | Legitimate interests: responding to someone who has contacted us. Where you are asking about services, steps taken at your request before entering a contract. |
| Deliver and administer an engagement | Contact and engagement details | Performance of a contract |
| Send our insights emails | Email address | Consent, which you give by signing up and can withdraw at any time |
| Keep the website running, secure and working properly | Technical log data | Legitimate interests: security and reliability of our website |
| Meet legal, accounting and record-keeping duties | Records of engagements and correspondence | Legal obligation, and our legitimate interests in keeping proper records |
We do not use your information to make automated decisions about you, and we do not profile you.
4. Who we share it with
We share personal information only with the suppliers who help us operate, and only as far as they need it:
- Website hosting and form handling — our hosting provider stores the site and receives form submissions.
- Email and productivity tools — used to correspond with you and keep records.
- Professional advisers — such as accountants or lawyers, where genuinely necessary.
- Authorities — where we are required by law to disclose information.
Each of these acts on our instructions under a written agreement. We do not allow them to use your information for their own purposes.
5. Where your information is held
Some of the suppliers we use are based outside the UK, including in the United States. Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we rely on safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as an adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses, so that your information keeps a similar level of protection.
6. How long we keep it
- Enquiries that don't lead anywhere: up to 24 months, then deleted.
- Client records: for the engagement and then for as long as we need them for legal, tax and accounting purposes.
- Insights sign-ups: until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you.
- Technical logs: a short period set by our hosting provider.
7. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- have inaccurate information corrected;
- ask us to delete information where there is no good reason for us to keep it;
- ask us to restrict how we use it, or object to us using it on the basis of legitimate interests;
- ask us to transfer certain information to you or another provider;
- withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the basis we rely on, such as our insights emails.
To exercise any of these, email info@lavantage.co.uk. We will respond within one month. There is no charge.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. We would rather you came to us first so we can put it right.
8. Cookies
A cookie is a small file a website asks your browser to store, usually to remember something about you between visits.
This website does not set any cookies. There is no analytics, no advertising and no tracking, so there is nothing for you to accept or reject and no cookie banner to click through.
Two things are worth knowing:
- Our typefaces are loaded from Google Fonts, so your browser contacts Google's servers. This does not set a cookie, but Google does receive your IP address as part of that request.
- If you follow a link away from our site, the site you land on will have its own cookies and its own policy.
If we ever add analytics or a booking tool that uses cookies, we will update this section and ask for your consent first where the law requires it.
9. Security
The site is served over an encrypted connection. We limit access to personal information to the two of us, use reputable suppliers, and keep only what we need. No system is completely secure, but we take this seriously and will tell you promptly if something goes wrong in a way that affects you.
10. Changes and contact
We will update this policy when what we do changes. The date at the top tells you when it was last revised.
Questions, requests or complaints: info@lavantage.co.uk.