Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Timberseed is a specialist recruitment and executive search firm. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this notice.

Timberseed Limited
21–33 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3EJ
Registered in England and Wales, company number 04026365

For anything relating to your personal information, contact dataprotection@timberseed.com.

2. What this notice covers

This notice explains how we handle personal information about:

• Candidates: people we work with to find roles
• Clients and prospective clients: people at organisations that hire through us, or that we approach about our services
• Visitors to our website

3. Information we collect about candidates

When you contact us or apply for a role, we collect your name, email address, phone number, CV or LinkedIn profile, work history, education, the roles and locations you're interested in, your current and expected salary, your notice period, and your right to work status.

As we work together, we add notes from our conversations, interview feedback from us and from our clients, the roles you've been submitted to, and the outcomes of those applications.

If you tell us you need an adjustment for an interview or assessment (for example because of a health condition or disability), we record what adjustment is needed so we can arrange it with the client. We record only the adjustment required, not the underlying reason, unless you ask us to share more. We rely on your explicit consent to handle this information and to pass it to a client, and you can withdraw that consent at any time.

4. Information we collect about you from other sources

We also identify potential candidates and clients from sources you haven't contacted us through. If you work in a role we recruit for, or at an organisation that hires the people we place, we may hold your professional details (name, job title, employer, work email address, phone number and LinkedIn profile) obtained from:

• Public professional networks such as LinkedIn
• Company websites and public announcements
• Business contact data providers
• Referrals from people in our network

We only collect information relating to your professional life. We use it to contact you about relevant roles, or about our recruitment services.

If we hold information about you obtained this way and you'd rather we didn't, email dataprotection@timberseed.com and we'll remove you from our records.

5. Information we collect about clients

For people at client and prospective client organisations we hold business contact details, records of our conversations and correspondence, details of the roles you're hiring for, and our contractual and billing records with your organisation.

6. Cookies and analytics

We use Vercel Analytics to understand how our website is used: which pages people visit, how they found us, and which content is useful. This helps us improve the site. Vercel Analytics doesn't use cookies or any other persistent identifier on your device, and it doesn't track you across other websites.

We set one cookie on this website, used only when you request access to a gated guide:

This cookie is strictly necessary to deliver the guide you asked for, so it's set without asking for consent, in line with UK cookie law (PECR). We don't use any advertising, tracking, or third-party marketing cookies.

7. Why we use your information, and our lawful basis

Candidates, legitimate interests.We match you to roles, represent you to prospective employers and keep you informed about relevant opportunities. We've assessed this and concluded it doesn't override your rights: you would reasonably expect a recruitment firm to do this, we only process information relevant to your professional life, and you can ask us to stop at any time.

Candidates, steps before a contract. Where you apply for a specific role, we also process your information to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.

Clients and prospective clients, legitimate interests. We contact people in a professional capacity about recruitment services relevant to their organisation, and we manage our relationships with the clients we work with.

Where we need your consent, we'll ask for it, for example before sharing your details with a specific employer, and before handling information about an adjustment you need. You can withdraw consent at any time, and doing so won't affect anything we did before you withdrew it.

Where we have a legal obligation, we process information to meet it, for example right to work checks, and our tax and accounting duties.

8. How we use technology to assess candidates

We use software, including AI tools, to help us search for candidates, sort applications and shortlist people against role requirements.

These tools support our consultants' judgement. A person reviews and decides on every candidate we put forward to a client or decline. We do not make decisions about you by automated means alone.

You can ask us how we assessed you for a role, ask a consultant to review that assessment, and challenge the outcome. Email dataprotection@timberseed.com.

9. Who we share your information with

Candidates:we share your details with prospective employers, but only with your agreement and only for roles we've discussed with you.

Everyone: we share information with service providers who help us operate: our recruitment CRM, our email and IT providers, our website analytics provider and our accountants. They act on our instructions under contract and cannot use your information for their own purposes.

We share information where the law requires it. We do not sell your personal information.

10. Sending information outside the UK

Some of our clients, and some of the systems we use, are based outside the UK, including in the European Economic Area and the United States.

Where we transfer your information to the European Economic Area, we rely on the UK's adequacy regulations.

Where we transfer your information to the United States (for example when we introduce you to a US client, or because a supplier hosts data there), we put appropriate safeguards in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

You can ask us for details of the safeguards that apply by emailing dataprotection@timberseed.com.

11. How long we keep your information

We keep personal information for six years from our last meaningful contact with you, after which we delete or anonymise it.

Six years reflects the period for which we're required to keep business records for tax purposes, and the period during which a contractual claim can be brought. It applies to candidate records, placement records, client and prospect contact details, and correspondence.

Contact resets this period, so if we speak to you, place you, or you get in touch, the six years runs from then.

You can ask us to delete your information sooner. See section 12.

12. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct it if it's wrong or incomplete
• Delete it, in certain circumstances
• Restrict how we use it, in certain circumstances
• Object to us using it where we rely on legitimate interests, including objecting to us contacting you at all
• Portability: to receive information you gave us in a machine-readable format
• Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on it

To exercise any of these, email dataprotection@timberseed.com. We'll respond within one month. If your request is complex we may need longer, and we'll tell you if so. We may ask for information to confirm your identity, and where we need to clarify what you're asking for, the time limit pauses until you reply.

There's no charge.

13. Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your personal information, tell us. Email dataprotection@timberseed.com, write to us at the address above, or raise it with any Timberseed consultant you're dealing with and they'll pass it on.

We'll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days of receiving it, look into it, and tell you the outcome and what we've done in response.

If you're not satisfied with how we handle it, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office:

ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint · 0303 123 1113
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

You can contact the ICO at any point. You don't have to come to us first.

14. Changes to this notice

We review this notice at least once a year. Where we make significant changes we'll update the date at the top and, where appropriate, tell you directly.