Privacy notice.
Introduction
Watts Group Limited (Watts) is an independent provider of building surveying, cost management and project management services to the property and construction industry in the UK and Ireland. This Privacy Notice explains how we store and use personal data collected, for example when:
- We provide a quote or tender for some work
- We undertake a due diligence check on a potential client/supplier
- We purchase a product or service from a supplier
- You commission a service or you are nominated as a contact point for a service we are providing
- You give us your business card or contact us via email, social media or our website
- Your company or project is identified as a ‘Target Client’ via a publicly available printed/electronic media source
This Notice explains what data we collect, why we use it, how long we keep it, and your rights under the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act and the Data (Use and Access) Act (DUUA)
What personal data is collected?
We collect personal data relevant to our business purposes and relationship with you, which may include:
- Name, job title, company name
- Email address, telephone numbers, office address
- Engagement and communication history
- Documents required for identify verification (for Know Your Client (KYC) checks)
We do not collect any personal data from third party data vendors and do not sell any data to these organisations.
How is personal data protected?
Personal data is stored in our Client Relationship Management (CRM) system and protected in accordance with our Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation. Documents obtained to help confirm your identity and substance during our KYC checks are stored in our ‘SharePoint’ browser-based collaboration and document management system.
We deploy multiple layers of protection both to computers, the networks and at the boundary of our networks. We use Enterprise grade, industry standard security tools to protect our systems, aligned with our Cyber Essentials Plus certification. Our email systems are also protected by Targeted Threat management systems, to reduce the risk of phishing attacks on staff.
How will your personal data be used?
We use the personal data collected for a range of different business purposes but primarily to meet our regulatory and contractual obligations. It is also used in a way we believe you should reasonably expect us to use the data which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests. Where appropriate, we may rely on Recognised Legitimate Interests as defined within the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, including information security, fraud prevention, safeguarding and emergency response activities. Where processing does not fall within a recognised legitimate interest, Watts will undertake an assessment to ensure that our interests are balanced against the rights and freedoms of individuals. For example, we use the following lawful basis to process personal data:
Contract
- To fulfil our contractual/regulatory obligations(e.g. service delivery, KYC checks)
- To do something before entering into a contract (e.g. provide a fee proposal, tender for a commission.
Legitimate interests
- To meet our commercial interests (e.g. offering to provide additional services, getting feedback)
- To satisfy individual interests (e.g. sharing knowledge and information about our services and/or the property/and construction industry)
Who will personal data be shared with and why?
We may share your personal data with:
- Internal recipients
Watts employees who require access to deliver services or support functions. Access is governed by strict permissions and audit controls. - Essential external service providers
Such as:
- Sub-consultants assisting with commissions
- Specialist survey or testing contractors
- Professional advisers
- Credit reference and identity verification services
- Couriers and IT support partners
These providers act under contract, and we remain responsible for how your data is used
- Legal, regulatory, or corporate events
We may disclose information if required to comply with legal obligations, fraud prevention, or during business sale, transfer, or restructuring activities.
We do not share your data for marketing by third parties.
How long will we keep your personal data for?
We will retain the data you give us, for differing periods of time, dependent on the reason you have supplied it to us, whether there is a need to retain the data and in accordance with our data retention policy. All such time frames are guided by industry best practice and other relevant legislation. We retain only what is necessary and proportionate under DUAA principles.
Your Rights
If we contact you because we believe we have a legitimate interest to do so, you will be given the opportunity to opt-out of receiving future communications when you receive the first and subsequent messages. You will also be able to check and amend the information we hold using a form access via a hyperlink in the email.
You have the right to access, correct or erase your personal data, and to object to or restrict its processing. You may also request data portability or lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – please use the contact details in the ‘How to contact us’ section below.
We will respond to your access request within one month. If we require further information to verify your identity or clarify your request, the statutory period will pause (‘stop the clock’) until we receive the requested details.
Cookies
In common with many other companies, we use standard technology called ‘cookies’ on our website. Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer’s hard drive. They help us to collect statistical data about our users’ browsing actions and patterns but they do not identify any individual. They enable us to:
- Manage and develop our website e.g. to improve usability or measure the popularity of a given web page
- Speed up your searches during subsequent visits
Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies; you do not need to use cookies to visit our website, but parts of the site may not work as intended if you don’t. You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser (Note: turning cookies off at the browser level could disable cookies on ALL sites you visit and therefore disable the functionality you rely on when visiting those sites).
Under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA), we may use low-risk cookies such as those for performance analytics without requiring prior consent. You can opt out at any time.
International Data Transfers
We primarily use cloud service providers that store data within the UK and European Economic Area (EEA). Where personal data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable data protection legislation.
How to contact us
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this notice or your personal data, please contact:
Director of Compliance
Watts Group Limited
1st Floor, 42 Trinity Square
London
EC3N 4TH
Email: my.data@watts.co.uk
We acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and issue a full response (or update) within 28 days. If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can raise the matter with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Changes to this Privacy Notice
This Privacy Notice is periodically reviewed and amended as necessary to make sure that it remains suitable and effective. Any changes we may make in the future will be posted on this page, and where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.
Automated Decision Making
We do not currently carry out any profiling or automated decision-making that has legal or significant effects on individuals. If this changes, we will update this notice accordingly.
Terms of use.
Important Legal Notice.
This legal notice applies to the entire contents of the Website under the domain name www.watts.co.uk (Website) and to any correspondence by e-mail between us and you. Please read these terms carefully before using the Website. Using the Website indicates that you accept these terms regardless of whether or not you choose to register with us. If you do not accept these terms, do not use the Website. This notice is issued by Watts Group Limited (Company).
Introduction
You may access most areas of the Website without registering your details with us. Certain areas of the Website are only open to you if you register.
By accessing any part of the Website, you shall be deemed to have accepted this legal notice in full. If you do not accept this legal notice in full, you must leave the Website immediately.
The Company may revise this legal notice at any time by updating this posting. You should check the Website from time to time to review the then current legal notice, because it is binding on you. Certain provisions of this legal notice may be superseded by expressly designated legal notices or terms located on particular pages at the Website.
Licence
You are permitted to print and download extracts from the Website [for your own use] on the following basis:
- no documents or related graphics on the Website are modified in any way;
- no graphics on the Website are used separately from the corresponding text; and
- the Company’s copyright and trade mark notices and this permission notice appear in all copies.
Unless otherwise stated, the copyright and other intellectual property rights in all material on the Website (including without limitation photographs and graphical images) are owned by the Company or its licensors. For the purposes of this legal notice, any use of extracts from the Website other than in accordance with the above for any purpose is prohibited. If you breach any of the terms in this legal notice, your permission to use the Website automatically terminates and you must destroy any downloaded or printed extracts.
Subject to the above, no part of the Website may be reproduced or stored in any other website or included in any public or private electronic retrieval system or service without the Company’s prior written permission.
Any rights not expressly granted in these terms are reserved.
Service access
While the Company endeavours to ensure that the Website is normally available 24 hours a day, the Company shall not be liable if for any reason the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period.
Access to the Website may be suspended temporarily and without notice in the case of system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons beyond the Company’s control.
Visitor material and conduct
You are prohibited from posting or transmitting to or from the Website any material:
- that is threatening, defamatory, obscene, indecent, seditious, offensive, pornographic, abusive, liable to incite racial hatred, discriminatory, menacing, scandalous, inflammatory, blasphemous, in breach of confidence, in breach of privacy or which may cause annoyance or inconvenience; or
- for which you have not obtained all necessary licences and/or approvals; or
which constitutes or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise be contrary to the law of or infringe the rights of any third party, in any country in the world; or - which is technically harmful (including, without limitation, computer viruses, logic bombs, Trojan horses,
- worms, harmful components, corrupted data or other malicious software or harmful data).
You may not misuse the Website (including, without limitation, by hacking).
The Company shall fully co-operate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing the Company to disclose the identity or locate anyone posting any material in breach of the above.
Links to and from other websites
Links to third party websites on the Website are provided solely for your convenience. If you use these links, you leave the Website. The Company has not reviewed all of these third party websites and does not control and is not responsible for these websites or their content or availability. The Company therefore does not endorse or make any representations about them, or any material found there, or any results that may be obtained from using them. If you decide to access any of the third party websites linked to the Website, you do so entirely at your own risk. If you would like to link to the Website, you may only do so on the basis that you link to, but do not replicate, the home page of the Website, and subject to the following conditions:
- you do not remove, distort or otherwise alter the size or appearance of the Watts logo;
- you do not create a frame or any other browser or border environment around the Website;
- you do not in any way imply that the Company is endorsing any products or services other than its own;
- you do not misrepresent your relationship with the Company nor present any other false information about the Company;
- you do not otherwise use any Watts’ trade marks displayed on the Website without express written permission from the Company;
- you do not link from a website that is not owned by you; and
- your website does not contain content that is distasteful, offensive or controversial, infringes any intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or otherwise does not comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
The Company expressly reserves the right to revoke the right granted above for breach of these terms and to take any action it deems appropriate.
You shall fully indemnify the Company for any loss or damage suffered by the Company or any of its group companies for breach of the above.
Disclaimer
While the Company endeavours to ensure that the information on the Website is correct, the Company does not warrant the accuracy and completeness of the material on the Website. The Company may make changes to the material on the Website, or to the products and prices described in it, at any time without notice. The material on the Website may be out of date, and the Company makes no commitment to update such material.
The material on the Website is provided “as is”, without any conditions, warranties or other terms of any kind. Accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the Company provides you with the Website on the basis that the Company excludes all representations, warranties, conditions and other terms (including, without limitation, the conditions implied by law of satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and the use of reasonable care and skill which, but for this legal notice, might have effect in relation to the Website.
Liability
The Company, any other party (whether or not involved in creating, producing, maintaining or delivering the Website), and any of the Company’s group companies and the officers, directors, employees, shareholders or agents of any of them, exclude all liability and responsibility for any amount or kind of loss or damage that may result to you or a third party (including without limitation, any direct, indirect, punitive or consequential loss or damages, or any loss of income, profits, goodwill, data, contracts, use of money, or loss or damages arising from or connected in any way to business interruption, and whether in tort (including without limitation negligence), contract or otherwise) in connection with the Website in any way or in connection with the use, inability to use or the results of use of the Website, any websites linked to the Website or the material on such websites, including but not limited to loss or damage due to viruses that may infect your computer equipment, software, data or other property on account of your access to, use of, or browsing the Website or your downloading of any material from the Website or any websites linked to the Website.
Nothing in this legal notice shall exclude or limit the Company’s liability for:
- death or personal injury caused by negligence [(as such term is defined by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977; or
- fraud; or
- misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter; or
- any liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.
If your use of material on the Website results in the need for servicing, repair or correction of equipment, software or data, you assume all costs thereof.
Governing law and jurisdiction
This legal notice shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Disputes arising in connection with this legal notice shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
Email Disclaimer English
The information in this email and any files transmitted with it may be confidential and legally privileged and are intended solely for the addressee or entity to whom they are addressed. Access to this email by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Any opinions expressed in the email are those of the individual and not necessarily those of Watts Group Limited.