Privacy and legal

How we handle your information.

Our privacy notice, cookie information, accessibility statement and terms of use for this website.

Last updated 10th September 2026.

Privacy notice

This notice explains what personal data Rainfords Arboriculture collects, why we collect it, how long we keep it and what rights you have. It covers this website and our work as an arboricultural consultancy.

Who we are

Robert Rainford Limited, trading as Rainfords Arboriculture, is the data controller for the personal data described in this notice.

Registered office: St Anns Mount, 166 Prescot Road, St Helens WA10 3TS
Trading address: Alpine House, 28 Church Road, Rainford, St Helens, Merseyside WA11 8HE
Company number: 16025599
Contact: Use the enquiry form on our Contact page, or the email address shown there.
ICO registration: ICO00014546327

What we collect and why

What we hold, and on what basis

Enquiry details

Name, contact details, site address and what you have asked us about, so we can quote and respond.

Lawful basis: legitimate interests, and steps prior to entering a contract.

Client and job records

Instructions, correspondence, site notes, quotes, invoices and payment records, so we can carry out and account for the work.

Lawful basis: performance of a contract, and legal obligation for accounting records.

Survey data and site photographs

Tree records, positions and images captured on site. These occasionally include a property in the background or an incidental person.

Lawful basis: performance of a contract, and legitimate interests in producing defensible reports.

Website usage

Basic technical information such as your IP address, recorded in standard server logs by our hosting provider.

Lawful basis: legitimate interests in keeping the site secure and available.

We do not use your information for automated decision making or profiling, we do not sell it, and we do not send marketing to people who have not asked for it.

Who we share it with

We share personal data only where it is necessary to deliver the work or meet a legal duty. That includes:

Our software partners, who host our job management, survey data and accounting systems and act as processors on our instructions.

Your own professional team where you have asked us to deal with them, for example a planning consultant, architect, solicitor or insurer.

A local planning authority, where a report is submitted in support of an application. Reports submitted through the planning process become publicly available.

Our accountant, insurers and professional advisers where required.

A court, regulator or public body where we are legally required to do so.

Our software partners are the job management, survey data and accounting platforms we use to run the business. They act as processors on our written instructions and may not use your data for their own purposes. Details of a specific partner are available on request.

How long we keep it

Enquiries that do not become jobs are kept for up to two years, so we can pick up the conversation if you come back to us. Job records, reports and survey data are kept for a minimum of six years after the work is completed, reflecting the limitation periods that apply to professional advice and the possibility that a report is relied on years later. Accounting records are kept for six years as required by HMRC. Site photographs are kept with the job record they belong to.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to ask us for a copy of your personal data, to have inaccurate data corrected, to have data erased, to restrict or object to how we use it, and in some cases to receive it in a portable format. Where we rely on consent you may withdraw it at any time.

Some of these rights are qualified. We may not be able to erase records we are required to retain, such as a report relied on in a planning decision or an accounting record.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details on the Contact page. We will respond within one month. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, by calling 0303 123 1113, or by writing to Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Security

Data is held in access controlled business systems and on encrypted devices. We keep the number of people who can see your information to those who need it to do the work.

Cookies and local storage

This website does not use advertising or analytics cookies, and it does not track you across other sites.

What is stored

Theme preference. If you switch between the light and dark versions of this site, your choice is saved in your browser’s local storage so the site opens the way you left it. It is not a cookie, it is never sent to us, and clearing your browser data removes it.

Enquiry form. Our contact form is provided by Fergus, our job management system, and is embedded on the Contact page. It may set its own cookies when you use it, governed by their privacy policy.

Third party resources. Fonts and the mapping libraries used for the coverage map are loaded from public content delivery networks. Doing so discloses your IP address to those providers. No cookies are set by them.

Because nothing on this site is used for advertising, analytics or tracking, no cookie consent banner is required. If analytics are ever added, this section will be updated and a consent mechanism introduced.

Accessibility statement

We want this site to be usable by as many people as possible. It has been built to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 at level AA, which includes:

Text contrast tested against its background in both the light and dark versions of the site.

Visible keyboard focus on every interactive element, styled rather than removed.

Alternative text on photographs, and empty alt text on decorative images so screen readers skip them.

Rotating images and scroll animations switched off for visitors whose device requests reduced motion.

Layouts that reflow to narrow screens and to enlarged text without loss of content.

Two things sit outside our control. The enquiry form on the Contact page is supplied by a third party. The coverage map is a visual aid only, so the same information is given in the text beside it.

If you have trouble using any part of this site, or need something in a different format, tell us through the Contact page and we will help.

Terms of use

The content of this website is provided for general information about our services. It is not arboricultural, legal or professional advice, and it should not be relied on in place of a site specific instruction. Descriptions of legislation and standards are summaries, not statements of law.

The text, photographs, survey imagery and design of this site are the property of Robert Rainford Limited and may not be reproduced without written permission. Survey and tomography images are from our own work and remain our copyright.

We take care to keep the site accurate and available but do not guarantee either. Links to other websites are provided for convenience and we are not responsible for their content.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.