Cookies & privacy policy

Privacy Statement

This privacy policy is issued by WASHCO on behalf of the Hughes group of companies, namely, Hughes Electrical Ltd, Hughes Tv and Audio Ltd, Hughes Rental Ltd, Washco Ltd and Solent Laundry Solutions Ltd (together, “we”, “us” or “our”).

We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. We take care to protect the privacy of our customers and users of our products that communicate online with us, through website and social media platforms.

We have therefore developed this privacy policy to inform you of the data we collect, what we do with your information, what we do to keep it secure as well as the rights and choices you have over your personal information.

We will let you know which entity will be the ‘controller’ of your personal data when you purchase a product or service with us. Whilst WASHCO administers and uses relevant data Hughes Electrical Ltd is the controller of and responsible for our website.

By browsing or using our website you agree to this policy governing the use of the website. If you do not accept this policy then you must not use our website.

We promise:

  • To keep your data safe and private.
  • Not to sell your data.
  • To make it easy for you to manage and review your marketing choices at any time.
  • To delete your data if it is no longer required.

How we use your information

All personal data that we obtain about you will be used in accordance with current data protection law and this privacy policy.  We, or third party data processors acting on our behalf, will process your personal data as follows.

As necessary, under legitimate interest we will use the following information from you.

Your name and contact details

  • For contact from your account manager
  • For customer service and product support
  • To deliver your orders
  • Sending you information by e-mail or post about new products and services

Your contact history with us

  • For the management of your account
  • To help us manage your query

and to comply with legal obligations about looking after your data, to prevent and detect fraud against either you or WASHCO.

Visitors to our website

When someone visits www.washco.co.uk, we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be upfront about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.

Sharing your information

We will not sell or rent your personal data to a third party – including your name, address, email address.

However, in order to fulfil your order or service we will share it with:

  • Payment service providers
  • Delivery companies such as Palletways
  • Professional service providers, such as marketing agencies, advertising partners and website hosts who help us run our business.
  • Credit reference agencies, finance companies, law enforcement and fraud prevention agencies.
  • Manufacturers when spare parts are sent to you or for warranty purposes.
  • Service engineers or technicians repairing products
  • We may provide third parties with anonymised information and analytics about our customers and, before we do so, we will make sure that it does not identify you.

We also anonymise and aggregate personal information (so that it does not identify you) and use it for purposes including testing our IT systems and improving our website and to develop new products and services. We also share this information with third parties.

Other companies within the Hughes Group

We may from time to time share your personal data with other companies within the Hughes Group, to help us to provide services to you or as may be necessary in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise.  As noted at the top of this privacy policy, these companies are:

Hughes Electrical Ltd

Hughes TV and Audio Ltd

Hughes Rental Ltd

Washco Ltd

Solent Laundry Solutions Ltd

Each of these companies have their registered address at Mobbs Way Lowestoft NR32 3AL and are bound by the terms of this privacy statement and are required to comply with our group data protection policies.

Marketing messages

We may contact you about relevant products and services.

You can stop receiving marketing messages from us at any time.

You can do this:

  • By clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any email.
  • By e-mailing privacy@washco.co.uk  or by writing to WASHCO, Unit 11, Bone Lane, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 5RU.

Once you do this, we will update your profile to ensure that you don’t receive further marketing messages.

Please note that we will update our systems as quickly as we can but you may still get messages from us while we process your request.

Stopping marketing messages will not stop communications in regards to orders or customer related issues.

We also engage in online advertising, to keep you aware of what we’re up to and to help you see and find our products.

Online advertising

Like many companies, we may target WASHCO banners and ads to you when you are on other websites and apps. We do this using a variety of digital marketing networks and ad exchanges, and we use a range of advertising technologies like pixels, ad tags, cookies, and mobile identifiers, as well as specific services offered by some sites and social networks, such as Facebook’s Custom Audience service.

The banners and ads you see will be based on information we hold about you, or your previous use of WASHCO or on WASHCO banners or ads you have previously clicked on.

About cookies

A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

Cookies that we use

We use cookies for the following purposes:

  • Google Analytics: used to track the amount of visits, and the time of the visit and keeps track of returning visits. No personal information is stored in the cookie.
  • Cookies used by our service providers
  • Our service providers use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.
  • We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google’s privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.[ The relevant cookies are: _ga, _gat, _gid]

Managing cookies

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can, however, obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:

(a)    https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en (Chrome);

(b)    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-website-preferences (Firefox);

(c)    http://www.opera.com/help/tutorials/security/cookies/ (Opera);

(d)    https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies (Internet Explorer);

(e)    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21411 (Safari); and

(f)    https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10-microsoft-edge-and-privacy (Edge).

Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.

Your information

We will keep your information for as long as you have an account, or as long as is needed to be able to provide the services to you, or for as long as is necessary to provide product-related services. Unless otherwise required by law, your data will be stored for a period of 7 years after the last contact with you, at which point it will be deleted.

If required to meet legal or regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, or enforce our terms and conditions.

Your rights

  • The right to be informed about how your personal information is being used.
  • The right to access the personal information we hold about you – Subject Access Request Form
  • The right to request the correction of inaccurate personal information we hold about you.
  • The right to request that we delete your data, or stop processing it or collecting it, in some circumstances.
  • The right to stop direct marketing messages and withdraw consent for other consent-based processing at any time.
  • The right to request that we transfer or port elements of your data either to you or another service provider.
  • The right to complain to your data protection regulator — the Information Commissioner’s Office.

For more information about your privacy rights

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regulates data protection and privacy matters in the UK. They make a lot of information accessible to consumers on their website and they ensure that the registered details of all data controllers such as ourselves are available publicly. You can access them here https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public.

You can make a complaint to the ICO at any time about the way we use your information. However, we hope that you would consider raising any issue or complaint you have with us first. Your satisfaction is extremely important to us, and we will always do our very best to solve any problems you may have.

How long we retain your data.

We retain a record of your personal information in order to provide you with high quality and consistent service. We will always retain your information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and never retain your information for longer than is necessary. Unless otherwise required by law, your data will be stored for a period of 7 years after our last contact with you, at which point it will be deleted.

Transfer of personal data outside the UK?

Although we are based in England, we may transfer your personal information to a location (for example, to a secure server) outside of the United Kingdom, if we consider it necessary or desirable for the purposes set out in this notice.

In such cases, to safeguard your privacy rights, transfers will be made to recipients to which an “adequacy decision” applies (this is a decision from the Information Commissioners Office confirming that adequate safeguards are in place in that location for the protection of personal data), or will be carried out under standard contractual clauses that have been approved by the Information Commissioner’s Office as providing appropriate safeguards for international personal data transfers

Changes to our privacy statement

If significant changes are made to this statement than we will make that clear on our websites or by e-mailing you so that you are able to review the changes before you continue to receive marketing messages from us.

How to contact us

If you want to exercise your rights, make a complaint, or just have questions regarding the privacy statement then please contact us by e-mailing privacy@washco.co.uk or by writing to us at:

WASHCO Privacy Team
Unit 11
Arnhem Road
Bone Lane
Newbury
Berkshire
RG14 5RU

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Find out on their website how to report a concern. www.ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/

Version 4 25.01.2021