Who we are
The Essential Expert Ltd ("we", "us", "our") is a UK limited company registered in England and Wales (Company No. 14143619), with registered office at Dragon House, Princes Way, Bridgend Industrial Estate, Bridgend, CF31 3AQ. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this notice.
For privacy queries, contact steve@theessentialexpert.com.
What we collect, and why
We collect only what we need to do our work. Specifically:
When you contact us
- Name and email address when you email or fill in a form. We use this to reply, scope an engagement, or follow up on a conversation.
- Phone number if you provide it. We use it only when you have invited a call.
- Anything you tell us about your situation, organisation, or requirements. Used only to assess fit and prepare for the conversation.
When you become a client
- Contracting and billing details required to invoice and deliver the engagement: legal entity, billing address, VAT number where applicable, purchase order references.
- Engagement-specific information shared in the course of the work. Treated as commercially confidential and never used outside the engagement.
When you visit this website
We do not currently set tracking cookies or run analytics. The site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages; Cloudflare may collect technical information (IP address, browser type, request timestamps) for security and reliability purposes. We do not access this data.
If we add privacy-respecting analytics in future, we will update this notice and add a cookie notice.
Lawful basis
Under UK GDPR, we rely on:
- Legitimate interests for general correspondence, scoping conversations, and responding to enquiries you initiate.
- Contract for active client engagements and the work we deliver.
- Legal obligation for tax, accounting, and statutory record-keeping (six years for HMRC).
Who we share information with
We do not sell or rent your information. We share it only with:
- Email and productivity providers (Google Workspace) under their data processor agreements.
- Hosting (Cloudflare) for site delivery.
- Accountants and HMRC for statutory accounts and tax.
- Payment processors when you pay an invoice.
- Legal or regulatory bodies if required by law.
If an engagement involves named third parties (a coachee's employer, for example), we agree what is shared with whom at scoping, and we honour that agreement.
How long we keep things
- Enquiry correspondence: up to 24 months, then deleted unless an engagement begins.
- Active client records: for the duration of the engagement plus six years (HMRC requirement).
- Marketing list (Substack): until you unsubscribe.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access the information we hold about you
- Have inaccurate information corrected
- Have information erased (subject to legal obligations)
- Object to or restrict our processing
- Receive your information in a portable format
- Complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk if you are unhappy with how we have handled your information
To exercise any of these rights, email steve@theessentialexpert.com. We will respond within one calendar month.
International transfers
Some of our service providers (e.g. Google) operate internationally. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, it is protected by adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent safeguards.
Changes to this notice
We will update this notice as our practices evolve. The date at the top reflects the latest version. Material changes will be communicated to active clients and Agora subscribers.