Privacy Policy

Matthews and Cook (“we”, “our”, or “us”) is committed to respecting your privacy and protecting any personal data you provide to us.

This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and store your information when you interact with us, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

1. What information we collect

We may collect and store the following types of personal data:

  • Name and contact details (e.g. email address, phone number)

  • Company name and job title

  • Project-related information you share with us

  • Invoicing and payment details

  • Contact details provided via our referral scheme (see section 9)

We do not collect any sensitive personal data or use tracking cookies at this time.

2. How we collect information

We collect personal data when you:

  • Get in touch with us via email or our website

  • Become a client or collaborate with us on a project

  • Provide information for invoicing or proposals

  • Take part in our referral scheme

3. Why we collect your data

We use this information to:

  • Communicate with you about projects or enquiries

  • Provide our creative services

  • Manage contracts and deliverables

  • Issue invoices and manage payments

  • Comply with legal and tax obligations

  • Administer our referral scheme (see section 9)

4. Legal basis for processing

Under the UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases:

  • Contract – when we process your data to fulfil an agreement with you

  • Legitimate interest – to operate and improve our business communication, record-keeping, and referral scheme

  • Legal obligation – to meet tax or accounting requirements

  • Consent – where explicitly given, particularly in the context of referrals

5. How we store and protect your data

We store personal data securely using trusted third-party services:

  • Google Workspace (for email and file storage)

  • Notion (for project notes and collaboration)

  • Xero (for accounting and invoicing)

These providers store data in compliance with UK and international data protection standards. We take reasonable steps to ensure your data is protected and not accessed unlawfully.

6. How long we keep your data

We only keep your data for as long as necessary:

  • For active projects and follow-up communication

  • For up to 6 years where required by tax and accounting laws

  • For referrals, for a limited time unless consent is given for ongoing contact

When no longer needed, your data is securely deleted or anonymised.

7. Sharing your data

We do not sell or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

We only share data with trusted service providers (like those above) in order to deliver our services and meet our obligations.

8. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you

  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete data

  • Request deletion of your data (unless required by law to keep it)

  • Object to or restrict processing in certain cases

To make any requests regarding your data, contact us at the email address below.

9. Referral scheme

If you take part in our referral scheme, we will collect your contact details (as the referrer), and the contact details of the person you refer (“the referee”).

We rely on your confirmation that you have permission from the referee to share their information with us. We will contact the referee to inform them how we received their details, and we will not use their information for any further contact unless they provide their consent.

Referees may request access to or deletion of their data at any time, and will receive a copy of our full privacy notice upon first contact.

Personal data collected through the referral scheme will be stored securely and not used for unrelated marketing. All processing is done under the lawful basis of legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) and/or consent (Article 6(1)(a)) where applicable.

10. Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or your data, please contact:

Matthews and Cook

41 Biggin Street

Loughborough

LE11 1UA


Email: hello@matthewsandcook.com

If you’re unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): www.ico.org.uk