Privacy policy

We are a small, family-run catering business in Kent. We only ask for the information we need to reply to you and to cater for your event, and we look after it carefully. This policy explains what we collect, why, and what your rights are.

Who we are

“Leave It To Us” is a trading name of Stephanie Jenkins, who is the proprietor and the person responsible for your information (the “data controller” under UK data protection law).

You can contact us at stephanie@leaveittous.co.uk or on 07815 470 439. We do not publish a postal address on this website; if you need one for a legal reason, email us and we will provide it.

What we collect and why

When you send an enquiry through our website form, we collect the details you type in:

• your name, email address and phone number;
• the type of event, the date and the approximate number of guests;
• how you heard about us and how you would like us to contact you;
• anything you write in the message box.

We use this only to reply to you, to prepare a quotation and to arrange a meeting or tasting. Our lawful basis is that this is necessary to take steps at your request before entering a contract, and, for enquiries that do not lead to a booking, our legitimate interest in replying to people who contact us.

As a safeguard in case an email goes astray, a copy of each enquiry sent through the form is also kept in a private log on our web server (not accessible from the website), which only Stephanie and her web administrator can see. It is deleted after 12 months.

When you email or phone us, we keep your message and contact details for the same purposes.

When you book, we also keep the details we need to cater for your event: the venue, dates, menu choices, payments and our correspondence. Our lawful bases are performing our contract with you and meeting our legal duties, such as keeping accounting records.

Dietary needs and allergies. If you or your guests have allergies, intolerances or other dietary needs and you tell us about them, we use that information only to plan and prepare safe food. Some of it can be health information, which the law treats with extra care. We rely on your explicit consent to use it for this purpose, which you give when you tell us. You can withdraw that consent at any time, although we may then be unable to cater safely for the people concerned.

Testimonials. Where a client has sent us a kind message and agreed that we may publish it, we show their names (and the venue and date) next to it on our testimonials page. If you would like your message changed or removed, please email us.

What we do not do

• We do not sell your information, and we do not use it for marketing from other companies.
• We do not send marketing emails or newsletters. If we ever start a mailing list, we will update this policy and ask for your consent first.
• We do not use advertising cookies, and we only use analytics cookies if you agree to them (see below).

Cookies

Analytics (only with your consent). When you first visit, we ask whether you’re happy for us to use Google Analytics. If you click Accept, Google Analytics sets cookies (named _ga and _ga_…, lasting up to two years) that tell us, in aggregate, how people find the site, which pages they visit and which buttons they use, such as “call” or “get directions”. It does not tell us who you are, and we do not use it for advertising. If you click No thanks, no analytics cookies are set and Google Analytics is not loaded at all. You can change your mind at any time using Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.

Remembering your choice. We store your cookie choice in your browser’s local storage so we don’t ask you on every page. This is strictly necessary and doesn’t identify you.

Instagram feed. Our home page shows our latest Instagram posts using a widget from LightWidget. When that section loads, your browser fetches the widget and images from LightWidget’s and Instagram’s servers, which will see your IP address, as with any website. Clicking a post takes you to Instagram, which has its own privacy policy.

Our fonts and all our other images are served from this website itself.

Who we share it with

We share information only with the services that help us run the website and the business, and only so far as they need to:

• Website hosting: Krystal Hosting Ltd (UK), which stores the website and keeps standard server logs (such as your IP address and the pages visited) for security and to keep the site running.
• Google Analytics (Google Ireland Ltd), only if you accept analytics cookies, to produce anonymous statistics about how the site is used.
• LightWidget, which displays our Instagram posts on the home page.
• Form handling and email: your enquiry is sent from our website to our email inbox by the website’s own mail service. To stop spam we use a hidden field, a timing check and Cloudflare Turnstile.
• Cloudflare Turnstile (Cloudflare, Inc.): on the contact page only, a Turnstile check runs in your browser to confirm you’re a person rather than a bot. Cloudflare receives technical information such as your IP address and browser details for this purpose; it does not use cookies for advertising. See Cloudflare’s privacy policy for details.
• Our email provider: where your messages are stored.
• Suppliers, venues and professional advisers: if you ask us to liaise with your venue or a supplier we recommend, we will share only what is needed. We may also share information with our accountant or insurer, or if the law requires us to.

Some of these providers may process information outside the UK. Where they do, we expect them to use approved safeguards, such as the UK’s International Data Transfer Agreement or an adequacy decision.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries that do not lead to a booking: 12 months, then we delete them.
• Clients: booking details, correspondence and payment records for as long as the law requires for tax and accounting records (usually up to six years).
• Dietary and allergy information: 3 months after your event, unless you are a repeat client and ask us to keep it.
• Testimonials: until you ask us to remove them.
• Website server logs: as set by the hosting provider, normally up to 30 days.

Keeping it safe

Enquiries are sent over an encrypted (https) connection. Our email and files are protected by passwords, and only Stephanie and the people she needs to involve to run your event can see your details.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask us to:

• tell you what information we hold about you, and give you a copy, free of charge;
• correct anything that is wrong;
• delete your information (unless we need to keep it by law, such as accounting records);
• restrict how we use it, or object to the way we use it;
• move your information to another provider, where this applies.

To do any of these, email stephanie@leaveittous.co.uk. We will reply within one month.

If you are not happy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

Links to other websites

Our website links to our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram), our Google reviews and Google Maps. Those sites have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for them.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we use your information, we will update this page and the date at the top.