Privacy Policy

How we use your information

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when the 4Elements Company Ltd ("the Company") collects personal information.

 Visitors to our websites

When someone visits www.the4elementscompany.com we use several third party services (Google Analytics, Clicky Analytics, CrazyEgg and Yandex Metrica) to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. These tools use ‘cookies’ – text files kept on your computer to collect standard internet log info and movement on the website in an anonymous form. The info generated by the cookie (including IP address) is transmitted to the respective provider. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site and help us improve the usefulness of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow the third parties 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 up front about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.

In addition, we use Google Analytics & AdWords remarketing codes to log when people view specific pages on this website. This enables us to provide targeted advertising. If you do not wish to receive this type of advertising you can opt out using the DoubleClick opt-out page or the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.

Use of cookies

You can read more about how we use cookies on our Cookies page.

Security and performance

The Company uses a third party service to help maintain the security and performance of the Company website. To deliver this service it processes the IP addresses of visitors to the Company website.

Contacting us via social media

If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message will be archived within the social media platform it was sent to unless you request its deletion. It will not be shared with any other organisations.

Contacting us by telephone

When you call the Company office any personal data that you give us will be used to track customer interaction.

Contacting us by email

Any email sent to us, including any attachments, may be monitored and used by us for reasons of security and for monitoring compliance with office policy.  Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send to us is within the bounds of the law.

Using our services

The Company offers various services (both paid for and free) to the public. We have to hold the details of the people who have requested these services in order to provide it. However, we only use these details to provide the service the person has requested and unless the person has opted in to receive other communication from us. When people do subscribe to our services, they can cancel their subscription at any time and are given an easy way of doing this.

Job applicants, current and former Company employees

The Company is the data controller for the information you provide during the recruitment process unless otherwise stated. All of the information you provide during the process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.

We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties or store any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format.

We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for. 

We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary.

The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. You don’t have to provide what we ask for but it might affect your application if you don’t. 

If we make a conditional offer of employment we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability.

You will therefore be required to provide:

• Proof of your identity – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
• Proof of your qualifications – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
• You will be asked to complete a criminal records declaration to declare any unspent convictions.
• We will contact your referees, using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references

If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following:

• Bank details – to process salary payments
• Emergency contact details – so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work

If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus up to 6 years following the end of your employment. This includes your criminal records declaration, fitness to work, records of any security checks and references.

If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for up to 6 months from the closure of the campaign.

Information generated throughout the assessment process, for example interview notes, is retained by us for up to 6 months following the closure of the campaign.

Equal opportunities information is retained for up to 6 months following the closure of the campaign whether you are successful or not.

Lawful Basis & Retention periods

The Company processes data under the lawful basis of Legitimate Interests and retains data until such a time as a data subject requests its removal.

Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you.

You can read more about these rights here – https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/is-my-information-being-handled-correctly/

Complaints or queries

The Company tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.

This privacy notice was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of the Company’s collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the Company at 3 Northumberland Street, Morecambe, LA4 4AU.

If you want to make a complaint about the way we have processed your personal information, you can contact the ICO – www.ico.org.uk/concerns.

Access to personal information

The Company tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’ under the Data Protection Act 1998. If we do hold information about you we will:

• give you a description of it;
• tell you why we are holding it;
• tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

To make a request to the Company for any personal information we may hold you need to put the request in writing – either by email to hello@the4elementscompany.com or by letter to The Meadow, 3 Northumberland Street, Morecambe, LA4 4AU.

If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.

If we do hold information about you, you can ask us to correct any mistakes by contacting us.

Links to other websites

This privacy notice does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.

Changes to this privacy notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last reviewed on July 1st 2024.