This Privacy Policy explains how Meridian Merchant & Energy Solutions Ltd ("Meridian", "we", "us") collects and uses personal data when you use this website, submit an enquiry, or contact us on WhatsApp. It is written with reference to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. Who we are (data controller)
Meridian Merchant & Energy Solutions Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company number 17562173), with its registered office at 322 Mortlake Road, Ilford, England, IG1 2TG, United Kingdom.
Contact for data protection matters: [data protection contact email to be confirmed] · WhatsApp: +44 7448 983826
ICO registration: [ICO registration number, or applicable exemption, to be confirmed].
2. Personal data we collect
When you submit our enquiry form we collect:
- Your full name, business name, business email address and contact number
- Your business postcode and business type
- The services you are interested in and any additional information you choose to provide
- Your contact consent and, separately, whether you opted in to marketing updates
- The date and time of your submission
We do not ask for, and you should not include, passwords, bank or card details, or special category data (such as health information) in the enquiry form or in WhatsApp messages.
To protect the form from abuse, our server temporarily processes your IP address to apply rate limits. It is held in memory only for a short period and is not stored with your enquiry. [Confirm whether the hosting provider keeps server access logs and for how long.]
3. How we use your data and our lawful bases
- To receive, review and respond to your enquiry and discuss relevant business solutions — lawful basis: [to be confirmed, e.g. legitimate interests in responding to business enquiries / steps prior to entering a contract].
- To share your enquiry with third-party providers so they can provide quotations — lawful basis: [to be confirmed]. [List provider categories.]
- To send marketing updates, only if you separately opted in — lawful basis: consent, which you can withdraw at any time. Agreeing to be contacted about your enquiry does not, by itself, mean you have agreed to receive marketing.
4. How your enquiry is sent to our team
When you submit the enquiry form, our website server sends your enquiry details (the information listed in section 2, excluding your IP address) by email to our enquiries inbox (info@meridianmerchant.co.uk) so our team can respond. The email is sent over an encrypted (TLS) connection using our email service provider [confirm provider, e.g. Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace / Hostinger Email / transactional email service], which processes it on our behalf. Your email address is set as the reply address so we can respond to you directly. We do not add you to any mailing list unless you separately opt in to marketing.
Access to the enquiries inbox is limited to staff who handle enquiries. [Confirm who has access and how long enquiry emails are kept.]
5. Contacting us on WhatsApp
If you choose to message us using a WhatsApp button on this website — including the "Send Enquiry via WhatsApp" option, which opens WhatsApp with your enquiry pre-filled for you to review and send — we will receive your WhatsApp phone number, profile name and the messages you send. Nothing is sent until you press Send in WhatsApp. The WhatsApp buttons are plain links; no WhatsApp or Meta code runs on this website. Your use of WhatsApp itself is governed by WhatsApp's own terms and privacy policy.
6. Who we share your data with
- Our email service provider — delivery of enquiry notifications [confirm provider]
- Meta Platforms (WhatsApp) — only if you choose to contact us on WhatsApp
- Our website hosting provider — [confirm, e.g. Hostinger]
- [Any CRM or email provider used]
- [Partner providers your enquiry is passed to for quotations — list categories]
7. International transfers
Our email provider and, if you contact us on WhatsApp, Meta may process data outside the UK, including in the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum/Agreement. [Confirm where your email provider stores data and the safeguards relied upon.]
8. How long we keep your data
[Retention periods to be confirmed, e.g. enquiries and related WhatsApp messages that do not proceed are deleted after X months. This includes enquiry emails and any related WhatsApp chats.]
9. Cookies
At the time of writing this website does not set analytics or advertising cookies, and the WhatsApp buttons are plain links that do not load third-party scripts. [Update this section — and add a cookie consent mechanism — before adding analytics, advertising pixels or other non-essential cookies.]
10. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have rights including the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict or object to processing of your personal data, the right to data portability, and the right to withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent. To exercise your rights, contact us using the details above.
11. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the chance to address your concerns first.