Privacy and cookie policy

Last updated: 18 August 2026

1. Who we are

Sites4Trades provides website design, hosting, maintenance and related services for UK trade businesses.

The data controller is Luke Ranfield, a self-employed sole trader trading as Sites4Trades.com.

Business address: Flat 11, The Ropeworks, Little Peter Street, Manchester, M15 4QJ Privacy enquiries: sales@sites4trades.com

In this policy, “Sites4Trades”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to that data controller.

2. The information we collect

Depending on how you use our website or services, we may collect:

Your name, email address, telephone number and preferred contact method
Your business name, trade, service areas and other business information
Information supplied through an enquiry, callback request or website order form
Website copy, photographs, logos, testimonials, project details, accreditations and other files supplied for your website
Package, order, billing and transaction information
Messages, approvals, feedback and support requests
Technical and usage information such as browser and device type, pages visited, session activity, approximate location, referral information, cookie identifiers and cookie preferences
Advertising and conversion information, where you consent to advertising cookies or similar technologies

Payments are processed by Stripe. Sites4Trades does not receive or store your full payment card details, although we may receive payment status, transaction references, billing details and the email address associated with the payment.

Please only send us personal information about another person if you have their permission and they understand how it will be used.

3. How and why we use your information

We use personal information to:

Respond to enquiries and callback requests
Provide quotes and take steps requested before entering into a contract
Process orders and provide purchased services
Plan, design, build, launch, host, maintain and update customer websites
Contact customers for content, feedback, approval, support, renewals and other necessary service-related matters
Keep payment, accounting and business records
Maintain the security and reliability of our website and services
Understand how our website performs and improve it
Measure advertising effectiveness, where the required consent has been given
Establish, exercise or defend legal claims and comply with legal obligations

Our lawful bases are:

Contract: where information is needed to take steps at your request or provide the service you purchased
Legitimate interests: where reasonably necessary to operate, secure and improve the business, provide customer support, maintain accurate service records or protect our legal rights, provided those interests do not override your rights
Legal obligation: where we must keep or disclose information to comply with the law
Consent: for non-essential analytics, advertising cookies and similar tracking technologies, and any other activity where consent is required

You can withdraw consent at any time. This will not affect processing that took place before consent was withdrawn.

Routine service emails about an active order or customer service are not marketing messages. We will only send promotional emails where we have the required consent or another valid permission under applicable electronic marketing rules, and we will provide a clear way to opt out.

We only share information where reasonably necessary to provide and operate the service. Recipients may include:

Stripe and other payment or accounting providers
Website hosting, domain, email, cloud storage, form and security providers
Google, where we use Google Fonts to deliver typefaces or Google Analytics to measure website use
Trusted freelance designers, developers or contractors who help deliver a customer website or ongoing service
Meta, where you consent to Meta Pixel advertising measurement
Professional advisers, insurers, regulators, law enforcement bodies or public authorities where reasonably necessary or required by law

Contractors are only given the information they need for their work and are expected to keep it confidential and use it only to provide the agreed service.

We do not sell personal information.

Some providers may process information outside the UK. Where UK data protection law requires it, we use an approved transfer mechanism or rely on another valid safeguard.

5. Cookies, pixels and similar technologies

Cookies are small files stored on a device. Pixels, scripts, link identifiers and similar technologies can also recognise a browser or device, record activity or connect a visit with an advertising campaign.

Strictly necessary technologies

These are used for functions such as security, form operation, remembering privacy choices and providing a requested service. Where the law permits, they may operate without consent because the website cannot provide the relevant function without them.

Google Analytics

With your consent, we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors find and use our website. Google Analytics may receive information such as pages visited, session activity, approximate location, browser and device information, referral information and cookie or similar identifiers. Google Analytics uses first-party cookies, including _ga cookies, to distinguish users and sessions. We do not intentionally send names, email addresses or other directly identifying contact details to Google Analytics.

Google Analytics will remain inactive until the required consent has been given. You can reject analytics or change your choice at any time using the Cookie settings control.

Google Fonts

We use Google Fonts to display typefaces. Where a font is loaded directly from Google, the visitor's browser connects to Google's servers to request the stylesheet and font files. This request may include technical information ordinarily sent by a browser, such as the IP address and browser information. Google Fonts does not set advertising cookies through the font request. Where practical, we may instead host font files ourselves so that a visitor's browser does not need to contact Google to display them.

Meta advertising measurement

With your consent, we may use the Meta Pixel to record visits and actions on our website, measure whether Meta adverts lead to enquiries or purchases, create advertising reports and improve campaign performance. Depending on its configuration, Meta may receive event information, page and referral information, browser or device information, IP address, cookie identifiers and information you submit that is permitted for advertising measurement.

We will not activate Meta Pixel, Google Analytics or other non-essential tracking technologies on a device before the user has made an affirmative choice. Rejecting analytics or advertising cookies will not prevent anyone from using the core website or buying a service.

Users can accept, reject or change their choices at any time using the Cookie settings control on the website. Cookie lifetimes and the providers currently in use will be shown in that control and kept under review.

6. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy.

Enquiries that do not become customers: normally up to 90 days after the last meaningful contact, unless the person requests earlier deletion or there is a genuine reason to keep it longer
Active customers: contact details, service communications, website materials and project records are kept for as long as needed to provide the ongoing service
After cancellation: customer contact details, website materials, uploaded files and ordinary service records will be deleted or anonymised within 30 days of the service ending
Payment, invoice, tax and accounting records: kept for the period required by law, even where this is longer than 30 days
Complaints, disputes and legal claims: relevant information may be kept for as long as reasonably necessary to resolve the matter or protect legal rights
Backups: deleted information may remain temporarily in secured backups until those backups are overwritten through the normal backup cycle and will not be restored for ordinary business use
Cookie, analytics and advertising information: retained according to the duration shown in the cookie settings tool and the relevant provider’s settings

When information is no longer required, we delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify an individual.

7. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

Ask for a copy of your personal information
Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
Ask us to delete information
Ask us to restrict how information is used
Object to certain uses of information
Receive information you supplied in a portable format
Withdraw consent at any time where processing relies on consent

These rights are not absolute and an exemption may apply. To make a request, email sales@sites4trades.com. We may need to confirm the requester’s identity before responding.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Information is available at ico.org.uk, although we would appreciate the opportunity to address the concern first.

8. Security

We securely store website copy, photographs, logos, testimonials, project details and other materials supplied by customers where necessary to design, build, host, maintain and update their website. Access is limited to people and service providers who need the information to deliver the service.

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information. These include limiting access, using reputable providers for payments, hosting and storage, and keeping systems and access controls under review. No internet-based service can be guaranteed completely secure.

9. Children

Our services are intended for business customers and are not directed at children. Please do not submit personal information about a child unless it is genuinely necessary for a website and you have the legal authority to provide it.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our services, providers or legal obligations change. The latest version and its update date will be published on this page.

11. Contact us

For questions, requests or concerns about personal information, email sales@sites4trades.com or write to the business address shown in section 1.

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