Privacy Policy

Who we are

Hortimate Ltd provides specialist garden services, including Slugist, Aquist and Generalist. We are the data controller responsible for your personal data. If you have any questions about your data, or you want to exercise any of your rights, contact us at hello@hortimate.uk or on 07800 121485.

What data we collect

Depending on how you use Hortimate, we may collect:

  • Your name, address, email and phone number

  • Garden access details (for example, key safe or gate codes)

  • Visit and survey records (notes, photos, soil readings, and visit details)

  • Payment and billing information (handled securely by our payment provider — we never see or store your full card details)

  • Your account and membership details, and your communication preferences

  • Emails and booking information

  • Booking dates and times

  • Reviews you choose to submit

How we use your data

We use your data to:

  • Set up and manage your membership and account

  • Deliver and manage the services you book

  • Communicate with you about your visits, bookings and account

  • Send you visit reports

  • Manage subscriptions and payments

  • Handle enquiries, complaints and guarantees

  • Send you marketing about our services, where you have not opted out (see "How we contact you" below)

  • Publish reviews, only where you have given consent

We do not sell your personal data.

Why we are allowed to use your data

We rely on the following legal bases under UK data protection law:

  • Contract — where we need your data to provide a service you have requested

  • Legitimate interests — to run, improve and market our services, in a way that respects your rights and choices

  • Legal obligation — where the law requires it, for example keeping tax records

  • Consent — where you have specifically agreed, for example to publish a review

How we contact you

We contact you in two ways:

About your service. We will keep you informed about your bookings, visits and account by email and, where you have agreed to it, by SMS text message. Not every service uses SMS. You can turn SMS messages on or off at any time in your member profile, or by contacting us. These service messages are part of delivering your service.

Marketing. From time to time we may send you news about Hortimate by email — for example, the launch of a new service, or a seasonal reminder at the start of the slug, watering or winter-protection season. We only send marketing by email, never by SMS. You can opt out of marketing at any time, using the unsubscribe link in any marketing email or by contacting us. Opting out of marketing does not affect the service messages you need to receive about your bookings.

Who we share your data with

We only share your data where it is necessary to run our services. We use trusted third-party providers for things such as:

  • Website and membership management

  • Booking and scheduling

  • Payment processing

  • Visit reporting

  • Email delivery and communications

  • Accounting and record-keeping

All providers are required to keep your data secure and to use it only for the purpose we have engaged them for. We may also share your data where we are required to do so by law. We may also use anonymised data — which cannot identify you — for analysis and environmental reporting such as details of local slug activity.

Access details

If you give us access details, such as a key safe code, we treat them as highly sensitive:

  • They are stored securely, with restricted access

  • They are used only to deliver your service

  • They are never shared with anyone else

  • They are deleted immediately when they are no longer needed

How long we keep your data

  • Membership and customer data — kept while you are a member. If you cancel your membership, or ask us to delete your data, we remove it (subject to the legal retention below). We may contact you about our services while you remain a member; you can opt out of marketing, or leave, at any time.

  • Service and visit records — kept for up to 12 months after your service ends, so we can support you if you return without repeating your survey

  • Financial records — kept for 6 years, as the law requires

  • Access details — deleted immediately when no longer needed

  • Anonymised data — may be kept indefinitely, as it cannot identify you

You can ask us to delete your data at any time, and we will do so except where we are legally required to keep it.

Your rights

You have the right to:

  • Access the data we hold about you

  • Have inaccurate data corrected

  • Request deletion of your data, where legally possible

  • Object to or restrict certain processing

  • Receive your data in a usable format

  • Withdraw consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@hortimate.uk. We will respond within one calendar month. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

How we keep your data safe

We use appropriate security measures, including secure cloud systems, password protection and multi-factor authentication, encrypted connections, and access restricted to authorised people only. If a data breach occurs that is likely to affect your rights, we will notify you and the ICO where the law requires it.

ICO registration

Hortimate Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office. ICO registration number ICO:00013718280

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on our website.