Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how GOL CATERING collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information when you visit our website, enquire about our catering services, or make a booking.
1. Privacy Policy Overview
GOL CATERING is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of individuals and businesses who visit our website at https://gol-catering.site/, submit enquiries, request quotes, or book our catering services. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, the legal bases we rely on, and the measures we take to keep it secure.
This Policy applies to all interactions with GOL CATERING via our website, including use of the Booking and Contact Us forms, enquiries regarding our Services, Menus, Packages, Weddings, Corporate, and Events catering, as well as engagement with our resources such as FAQs and blog content.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, GOL CATERING acts as the “data controller” of the personal information collected through this website. This means we determine how and why your personal data is processed.
2. Information We Collect
We only collect information that is relevant to delivering and improving our catering services and to communicating with you effectively. The types of personal data we collect include:
2.1 Information you provide directly
- Contact details – such as your name, email address, telephone number, and company name when you complete our Contact Us or Booking forms, request a quote, or subscribe to updates.
- Event and appointment details – including event type (e.g. wedding, corporate, private celebration), date, time, location, expected guest numbers, dietary requirements, menu preferences, and package interests when you submit a booking enquiry or schedule an appointment.
- Enquiry and correspondence information – such as the content of your messages, feedback, testimonials, or questions submitted through forms, email, or telephone, and any follow-up information we request to assist you.
- Billing and payment-related information – limited details necessary to prepare quotes and invoices (for example, billing contact details and reference information). Card and payment processing details are handled by external payment providers where used and are not stored on this website.
- Preferences and consent records – including your communication preferences, consent choices for marketing or cookies, and records of how and when such consent was given, updated, or withdrawn.
2.2 Information collected automatically
When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain technical and usage data using cookies and similar technologies (see the Cookies and Tracking Technologies section and our Cookie Policy for more details), such as:
- Device and browser information – including IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device identifiers, and approximate geographic location (city/region level).
- Usage data – including pages visited, time and date of your visit, time spent on pages, links clicked, and the websites or sources that referred you to our site.
2.3 Information from third parties
In some cases, we may receive personal data about you from trusted third parties, for example:
- Referral partners or venues who introduce you to GOL CATERING for event catering services.
- Online booking or event platforms that you use to submit an enquiry or appointment request to us.
- Publicly available business contact information when we are corresponding with corporate clients and suppliers.
Where required, we will inform you that we have received your data from a third party and provide any additional information mandated by data protection law.
3. Use of Personal Information
We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:
- Processing and managing enquiries and bookings – to review and respond to your enquiries, prepare and send tailored quotes, refine menu and package recommendations, confirm bookings, and coordinate logistics for your event.
- Providing customer support – to respond to questions submitted through the Contact Us form, by email, or by telephone, and to manage any follow-up or after-event communication.
- Delivering and improving our services – to plan staffing and catering resources, adapt menus to dietary requirements, analyse feedback, enhance our Services, Menus, Packages, and improve the usability and performance of our website.
- Sending service-related communications – to share important booking information, timelines, event confirmations, changes to our terms, and relevant practical updates relating to your event.
- Marketing and updates – where permitted by law and your preferences, to send information about GOL CATERING offerings, seasonal menus, promotions, or blog resources that may be of interest to you. You can opt out of such communications at any time.
- Analytics and website performance – to understand how visitors use our website, troubleshoot technical issues, and support security and fraud-prevention measures.
- Legal and regulatory obligations – to maintain appropriate business records, manage contracts, comply with tax and accounting requirements, and respond to lawful requests from authorities or regulators.
We do not sell your personal data and we only use it in ways that are compatible with the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Depending on the specific context, GOL CATERING may rely on one or more of the following legal grounds:
- Consent – where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose, for example when you opt in to receive marketing communications or agree to non-essential cookies. You can withdraw your consent at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions in our communications or by contacting us using the details in the Contact and Complaints section.
- Contractual necessity – where processing is necessary to enter into, or perform, a contract with you (or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract). This includes handling booking enquiries, issuing quotes, confirming events, and delivering catering services.
- Legitimate interests – where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests or those of a third party, and these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include improving our website, preventing fraud and misuse, managing client relationships, and promoting our services to existing or prospective clients in a proportionate way.
- Legal obligation – where processing is necessary to comply with a legal or regulatory requirement, such as maintaining financial records for tax purposes or responding to lawful requests from public authorities.
If we need to process special category data (for example, information about dietary requirements that may indicate health or religious beliefs), we will do so only where necessary for the provision of catering services you request and in accordance with the additional safeguards and legal bases required by law, such as your explicit consent.
5. Retention of Data
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
5.1 Retention periods
Indicative retention periods include:
- Enquiries that do not result in a booking – typically retained for up to 12–18 months after our last interaction, in order to respond to follow-up questions and to understand enquiry trends.
- Confirmed bookings and event records – generally retained for up to 6 years after the end of the financial year in which the event took place, to meet contractual, tax, and accounting obligations and to handle any post-event queries or claims.
- Marketing data – retained until you withdraw your consent or opt out, or until it is otherwise no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected, at which point it will be securely deleted or anonymised.
- Technical and analytics data – retained for shorter periods that allow us to analyse website usage patterns and maintain security, typically no longer than is necessary for these purposes.
5.2 Secure deletion and anonymisation
When personal data is no longer required, we will either delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you. Backups and archived copies will also be managed and, where technically feasible, overwritten or destroyed in line with our retention practices.
8. Your Rights
Under the UK GDPR, you have specific rights regarding your personal data. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, you may have the right to:
- Access – request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, along with information about how it is used.
- Rectification – ask us to correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you.
- Erasure – request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent.
- Restriction – ask us to limit the processing of your data in specific situations, such as when you contest its accuracy or where you have objected to processing.
- Data portability – receive the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and request that we transmit it directly to another controller where technically feasible and lawful.
- Object – object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests (including profiling based on those interests) or where data is processed for direct marketing purposes.
- Withdraw consent – where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in the Contact and Complaints section. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request and we aim to respond within the timeframes required by law.
9. Data Security Measures
GOL CATERING takes the security of your personal data seriously and implements appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect it against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or alteration.
Measures we may use include:
- Secure hosting – using reputable hosting providers and applying security configurations aimed at protecting our website and underlying infrastructure.
- Encryption and access controls – restricting access to personal data to authorised personnel only, based on their role and responsibilities, and using secure methods to transmit sensitive information where appropriate.
- Data minimisation – collecting only the data we need for clearly defined purposes and retaining it for no longer than necessary.
- Policies and training – adopting internal procedures and awareness measures so that staff and contractors understand their responsibilities regarding data protection and confidentiality.
- Incident response – maintaining processes to identify, assess, and respond to potential data breaches, including notifying you and relevant authorities when legally required.
While we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your personal data, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security but remain committed to continuous improvement of our safeguards.
10. International Data Transfers
GOL CATERING is based in the United Kingdom. In the course of providing our services and operating this website, your personal data is generally processed within the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA).
However, certain service providers or technical support partners we use may be located, or may store data, outside the UK or EEA. Where such transfers occur, we take steps to ensure that your personal information continues to be protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection law. This may include:
- Relying on adequacy regulations where the destination country has been officially recognised as providing an equivalent level of data protection.
- Entering into contracts that incorporate appropriate safeguards, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses as recognised under UK law.
- Conducting due diligence and implementing additional technical and organisational measures where necessary.
If you would like further details about international transfers relating to your personal data, please contact us using the information in the Contact and Complaints section.
11. Contact and Complaints
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our handling of your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact GOL CATERING using the details below:
GOL CATERING
Website: https://gol-catering.site/
You may also contact us via the Contact Us page, where you can submit privacy-related enquiries, update your information, or request changes to your communication preferences.
11.1 Complaints to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
If you are based in the UK and are concerned about the way we have handled your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues:
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Website: https://ico.org.uk/
Telephone: +44 (0)303 123 1113
We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns first, so please contact us in the first instance wherever possible.
11.2 Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or the way we process personal data. Any updates will be posted on this page with a revised “Last updated” date. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.
Planning an event and ready to enquire?
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or would like to discuss a forthcoming event, our team is here to help you plan a tailored catering experience.