Section 01
Who We Are
K.Ottaway Plant Hire Ltd ("we", "us", "our") is a company registered in England and Wales, providing operated, self-drive, and contract plant hire across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, and the wider South West.
For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation ("UK GDPR") and the Data Protection Act 2018, K.Ottaway Plant Hire Ltd is the data controller in respect of the personal information described in this policy.
Registered office: Unit 28, Torbay Business Park, Woodview Road, Paignton, England, TQ4 7HP. Contact: josh@kottawayplanthire.com.
Section 02
Information We Collect
We only collect personal information that we genuinely need to quote for, deliver, manage, and invoice plant hire services, and to comply with our legal obligations. The categories of information we collect include:
- Identity & contact data — name, job title, company name, email address, telephone number, and site/delivery address.
- Hire enquiry data — equipment requested, dates, site details, ground conditions, access notes, and any free-text information you provide via our quote form, email, phone, or in person.
- Operator & competency data (where relevant) — operator name, CPCS/NPORS card number, site induction confirmations, and any documentation reasonably required for safe handover of self-drive plant.
- Transaction & financial data — purchase orders, invoices, payment references, account terms, and credit-check outcomes (where applicable).
- Technical & usage data — IP address, browser type and version, device information, referring URLs, and pages viewed on this website, collected via cookies and similar technologies (see Section 08).
- Marketing preferences — your choices about receiving marketing communications from us.
Section 03
How We Collect Your Information
- Directly from you when you submit a quote request, call our office, email us, or speak with a member of our team in person or on site.
- Through your interaction with our website, including form submissions, click events, and cookies.
- From third parties such as credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies, and publicly available sources (e.g. Companies House) where we are establishing trade accounts.
- From your employer or main contractor where you are nominated as a site contact, banksman, or signatory.
Section 04
Why We Use Your Information (Lawful Bases)
Under the UK GDPR we must rely on a lawful basis for each use of your personal data. We rely on the following bases:
4.1 Performance of a contract
To provide a quote, confirm a hire, deliver and collect equipment, issue invoices, take payment, and handle warranty or service issues during the hire period.
4.2 Legitimate interests
To run, protect, and improve our business — including responding to enquiries, preventing fraud, ensuring site safety, recovering debts, and maintaining records of hires for insurance and dispute purposes. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we balance them carefully against your rights and freedoms.
4.3 Legal obligation
To comply with statutory requirements, including HMRC tax records, health and safety obligations under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, LOLER and PUWER record-keeping for lifting and work equipment, and anti-money-laundering checks where applicable.
4.4 Consent
For optional marketing communications and for non-essential cookies. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of any earlier processing.
Section 05
Who We Share Your Information With
We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with parties who have a clear, justified need to receive it, and only to the extent necessary. These include:
- Our operators, drivers, and service partners, where information is required to safely deliver, operate, service, or collect plant on your site.
- IT, hosting, email, CRM, and accounting providers acting as our processors under written agreements that require them to protect your data.
- Payment processors, banks, and credit reference / fraud prevention agencies in connection with trade-account onboarding and payment.
- Professional advisers — accountants, solicitors, insurers, and auditors — bound by professional duties of confidentiality.
- Regulators, law-enforcement bodies, and public authorities where we are legally required to disclose information.
- A purchaser, successor, or new owner of all or part of our business, in the event of a sale, merger, or restructuring.
Section 06
International Transfers
We aim to keep your data within the United Kingdom and European Economic Area. Where any service provider processes data outside these regions, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place — such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum, or transfers to countries covered by an adequacy decision.
Section 07
How Long We Keep Your Information
We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, after which it is securely deleted or anonymised. Typical retention periods are:
- Quote enquiries that do not convert: up to 24 months from last contact.
- Active customer hire and account records: for the duration of the relationship and a further 7 years thereafter, to comply with HMRC and limitation-period requirements.
- Health, safety, and incident records: a minimum of 6 years from the date of the incident, or longer where statute requires.
- Marketing data: until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent, after which we retain only suppression data needed to respect your choice.
- Website analytics: typically 14 months at most.
Section 08
Cookies & Similar Technologies
Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies to make the site work, remember your preferences, and understand how it is used so we can improve it. Categories used:
- Strictly necessary cookies — required for core site functionality such as security, form submission, and load balancing.
- Performance & analytics cookies — anonymised, aggregated data about visits and interactions, set only with your consent where required.
- Functional cookies — remember your preferences, such as form field auto-fill.
Section 09
Your Rights
Subject to certain conditions and exemptions under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights in respect of your personal data:
- The right to be informed about how we use your data.
- The right of access to a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- The right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data.
- The right to erasure ('right to be forgotten') in certain circumstances.
- The right to restrict processing in certain circumstances.
- The right to data portability for data you have provided to us.
- The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing.
- The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect (we do not currently carry out such processing).
- The right to withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent.
Section 10
How to Exercise Your Rights or Make a Complaint
To exercise any of your rights, please write to us at josh@kottawayplanthire.com. We will respond within one calendar month and will not normally charge a fee.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first so we can put things right. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by telephone on 0303 123 1113.
Section 11
Security
We maintain appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, or disclosure. These include access controls, encryption in transit, secure backups, vetted suppliers, and regular review of our processes. No system is ever completely secure, however, and you are responsible for keeping any account credentials confidential.
Section 12
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, technology, or our business practices. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was most recently revised. Where changes are material we will, where practicable, draw them to your attention.
Section 13
Contact Us
For any questions about this policy or your personal data, please contact:
K.Ottaway Plant Hire Ltd
Unit 28, Torbay Business Park, Woodview Road, Paignton, England, TQ4 7HP
Email: josh@kottawayplanthire.com
See also our Terms & Conditions.