Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Fox Brothers & Co Ltd - Trading as William Bliss — PRIVACY POLICY Last updated: March 2025

1. INTRODUCTION

Fox Brothers & Co Ltd Trading as William Bliss ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share your personal information when you visitwww.williambliss.com (the "Website") or purchase products from us.

Our registered address is: Tonedale Mill, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 0AW

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us at sales@williambliss.com.

2. WHAT DATA WE COLLECT

We may collect and process the following personal data:

Identity Data — your name, username, or similar identifier.

Contact Data — your billing address, delivery address, email address, and telephone number.

Financial Data — payment card details. Please note that we do not store full card details; these are processed securely by our payment provider [e.g. Stripe / PayPal].

Transaction Data — details of products you have purchased from us, including fabric type, quantity, and order history.

Technical Data — your IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types, operating system, and other technology on the devices you use to access the Website.

Usage Data — information about how you use our Website, including pages visited, time spent, and links clicked.

Marketing and Communications Data — your preferences for receiving marketing from us and your communication preferences.

3. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR DATA

We collect personal data in the following ways:

3.1 Directly from you when you create an account, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter, request a sample, contact us by email or phone, or fill in a form on our Website.

3.2 Automatically via cookies and similar tracking technologies as you browse our Website. Please see our Cookie Policy at Section 10 below.

3.3 From third parties such as analytics providers (e.g. Google Analytics), payment processors, and delivery partners.

4. LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. We rely on the following:

Performance of a contract — to process and fulfil your order, arrange delivery, and manage returns and refunds.

Legal obligation — to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, such as maintaining financial records for HMRC.

Legitimate interests — to improve our Website and services, prevent fraud, and conduct direct marketing to existing customers where it is reasonable to expect this.

Consent — where you have actively opted in, for example to receive our marketing emails. You may withdraw consent at any time.

5. HOW WE USE YOUR DATA

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

5.1 To process and fulfil your orders, including arranging payment and delivery.

5.2 To manage your account and respond to your enquiries.

5.3 To send you order confirmations, dispatch notifications, and delivery updates.

5.4 To send you marketing communications where you have consented or where we have a legitimate interest in doing so as an existing customer. You can opt out at any time.

5.5 To improve our Website, products, and customer experience using anonymised analytics data.

5.6 To detect and prevent fraud or other unlawful activity.

5.7 To comply with our legal obligations, including tax and accounting requirements.

6. MARKETING

6.1 We may send you marketing emails about new fabrics, promotions, and events if you have opted in or if you are an existing customer and have not opted out.

6.2 You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email or by contacting us at sales@williambliss.com.

6.3 We will never sell your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

7. SHARING YOUR DATA

We may share your personal data with the following categories of third parties:

Delivery partners — to fulfil and track your order (e.g. Royal Mail, DPD, or similar couriers).

Payment processors — to process payments securely (e.g. Stripe, PayPal).

IT and website service providers — who host and maintain our Website and systems.

Email marketing platforms — such as Mailchimp or Klaviyo, where you have consented to receive marketing.

Analytics providers — such as Google Analytics, on an anonymised basis.

Professional advisers — including solicitors, accountants, and insurers where necessary.

HMRC and regulatory authorities — where required by law.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your data and to process it only in accordance with our instructions and applicable law.

8. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Some of our third-party service providers may be based outside the UK. Where we transfer your data internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or Standard Contractual Clauses, in accordance with UK GDPR requirements.

9. DATA RETENTION

We will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy:

Order and transaction data is retained for 7 years to comply with HMRC requirements.
Account data is retained for as long as your account is active, plus a reasonable period thereafter.
Marketing preferences are retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent.
Technical and usage data is typically retained for no longer than 26 months.

10. COOKIES

10.1 Our Website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to improve your browsing experience, remember your preferences, and analyse Website traffic.

10.2 We use the following types of cookies:

Strictly necessary cookies — essential for the Website to function, including maintaining your shopping basket and processing payments. These cannot be disabled.

Analytics cookies — such as Google Analytics, to understand how visitors use our Website. These are only placed with your consent.

Marketing cookies — used to deliver relevant advertising and track the effectiveness of campaigns. These are only placed with your consent.

10.3 You can manage your cookie preferences via our cookie consent banner when you first visit the Website, or by adjusting your browser settings at any time. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect Website functionality.

11. YOUR RIGHTS

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (a Subject Access Request).

Right to rectification — to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.

Right to erasure — to request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances.

Right to restriction — to ask us to restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.

Right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.

Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.

Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email address]. We will respond within one month of receiving your request.

12. COMPLAINTS

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

Website: ico.org.uk Telephone: 0303 123 1113

We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly before you contact the ICO, so please reach out to us in the first instance.

13. SECURITY

We take the security of your personal data seriously and have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, or destruction. However, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed as completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted to our Website.

14. THIRD PARTY LINKS

Our Website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites and encourage you to read their privacy policies independently.

15. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Where changes are significant, we will notify you by email or a prominent notice on the Website.