We believe protecting our customer's privacy a data online is essential for building trust and maintaining a good relationship. Please read our policies below about online safety and data storage.

Contents of Privacy Notice

Sofa Illustrations 04
  1. Introduction
  2. Data Protection Principles
  3. Explaining the legal bases we rely on
  4. When do we collect your personal data?
  5. What sort of personal data do we collect?
  6. How and why do we use your personal data?
  7. Cookies
  8. Using our website
  9. Combining your data for personalised direct marketing
  10. How we protect your personal data
  11. How long will we keep your personal data?
  12. Who do we share your personal data with?
  13. Where your personal data may be processed
  14. What are your rights over your personal data?
  15. How can you stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing?
  16. How our providers use your personal data
  17. Contacting the Regulator
  18. Any questions?
  19. Changes to this Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Stokers Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (Company No. 00307357) with its office at 277 Wennington Road, Southport, Merseyside, PR9 7TW.  The Company is made up of a number of related trading names:

 

Stokers Fine Furniture

Christopher Pratts

W&T Nettleton

Lucas Furniture

Annetts Fine Furniture

Doorway To Value

Russell Dean Furniture

Fredmans Furnishers

 

For simplicity throughout this notice, ‘we’ and ‘us’ means Stokers Limited and its trading names.

We are a “Data Controller” for the purposes of the current Data Protection Act 1998 and we will remain so under the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (“GDPR”) and the legislation replacing the 1998 Act whilst undertaking our business services.

This Privacy Notice sets out the basis on which information will be processed by us.  It will also explain in detail the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us as one of our customers or through your use of our websites at www.stokers.co.uk, www.cpratts.co.uk, www.nettletons.co.uk, www.annetts.co.uk, www.russelldean.co.uk, www.fredmans.co.uk, www.doorwaytovalue.co.uk, www.lucas-furniture.co.uk  (“the Site”).  It also explains how we’ll store and handle that data, and keep it safe.

We know that there’s a lot of information here, but we want you to be fully informed about your rights, and how Stokers Limited uses your data.  The information contained within this notice must be provided to you under the GDPR.

Our Site also uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our site.  This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our Site and helps us to continue to improve the service that we provide to you. 

We hope the following sections will answer any questions you have but if not, please do get in touch with us.

It’s likely that we’ll need to update this Privacy Notice from time to time. We’ll notify you of any significant changes, but you’re welcome to come back and check it whenever you wish.

2. Data Protection Principles

We will comply with data protection law and principles, which means that your information will be:

  • Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way;
  • Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes;
  • Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes;
  • Accurate and kept up to date;
  • Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about; and
  • Kept securely.

3. Explaining the legal bases we rely on

We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to.  Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

 

  • a) Consent

In specific situations, we can collect and process your data with your consent.
For example, when you tick a box to receive email newsletters or details of upcoming promotions and events. 

When collecting your personal data, we’ll always make clear to you which data is necessary in connection with a particular service.

 

  • b) Contractual obligations

In certain circumstances, we need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligations.

For example, if you order an item from us for home delivery, we’ll collect your address details to deliver your purchase, and may pass them to a 3rd party courier. 

 

  • c) Legal compliance

If the law, or a regulatory obligation requires us to, we may need to collect and process your data.  

For example, we can pass on details of people involved in fraud or other criminal activity affecting the Company to law enforcement.

 

  • d) Legitimate interest

In specific situations, we require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running our business and which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests.

For example, we will use your purchase history to send you or make available personalised offers. 

We also combine the shopping history of many customers to identify trends and ensure we can keep up with demand, or develop new products/services. 

We will also use your address details to send you direct marketing information by post, telling you about products and services that we think might interest you.

4. When do we collect your personal data?

We collect your personal information through different methods including:

  • When you visit any of our websites, whether or not you buy products.
  • When you purchase a product or service in store or by phone.
  • When you engage with us on social media.
  • When you contact us by any means with queries, complaints etc.
  • When you ask one of our Employees to email you information about a product or service.
  • When you enter prize draws or competitions.
  • When you choose to complete any surveys we send you. 
  • When you comment on or review our products and services.
  • Any individual may access personal data related to them, including opinions. So if your comment or review includes information about an Employee who provided that service, it may be passed on to them if requested.
  • When you fill in any forms. For example, if an accident happens in store, an Employee may collect your personal data.
  • When you’ve given a third party permission to share with us the information they hold about you.
  • We collect data from publicly-available sources (such as Land Registry) when you have given your consent to share information or where the information is made public as a matter of law.
  • When you use our car parks and shops which usually have CCTV systems operated for the security of both customers and Employees. These systems may record your image during your visit.

5. What sort of personal data do we collect

If you purchase products from us, communicate with us, or do business with us, this will result in us collecting personal data about you.  We will collect, store and use the following types of personal information about you:

  • If you order product via our web sites: your name, gender, billing/delivery address, orders and receipts, email and telephone & mobile number. 
  • Details of your interactions with us through contact centres, in store, or online.  For example, we collect notes from our conversations with you, details of any complaints or comments you make, details of purchases you made, items viewed or added to your basket, voucher redemptions, brands you show interest in, web pages you visit and how and when you contact us.
  • Copies of documents you provide to prove your age or identity where the law requires this. (Including your passport and driver’s licence). This will include details of your full name, address, date of birth and facial image. If you provide a passport, the data will also include your place of birth, gender and nationality.
  • Payment card information.
  • Your comments and product reviews. 
  • Your image may be recorded on CCTV when you visit a shop or car park.
  • Your car number plate may be recorded at some of our car parks to manage parking restrictions.
  • To deliver the best possible web experience, we collect technical information about your internet connection and browser as well as the country and telephone code where your computer is located, the web pages viewed during your visit, the advertisements you clicked on, and any search terms you entered. Learn more about this in our section on Cookies below.
  • Your social media username, if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your comments, questions or feedback.

 

This list is not exhaustive and, in specific instances, we may need to collect additional data for the purposes set out in this policy.  

Our website is not intended for children and we don’t knowingly collect data relating to children.

6. How and why do we use your personal data?

We want to give you the best possible customer experience. One way to achieve that is to get the richest picture we can of who you are by combining the data we have about you. We then use this to offer you promotions, products and services that are most likely to interest you. 

The data privacy law allows this as part of our legitimate interest in understanding our customers and providing the highest levels of service.

Of course, if you wish to change how we use your data, you’ll find details in the ‘What are my rights?’ section below.

Remember, if you choose not to share your personal data with us, or refuse certain contact permissions, we might not be able to provide some services you’ve asked for.

Here’s how we’ll use your personal data and why:

To process any orders that you make by using our websites or in store. If we don’t collect your personal data during checkout, we won’t be able to process your order and comply with our legal obligations.

For example, your details may need to be passed to a third party to supply or deliver the product or service that you ordered, and we may keep your details for a reasonable period afterwards in order to fulfil any contractual obligations such as refunds, guarantees and so on.

To respond to your queries, refund requests and complaints. Handling the information you sent enables us to respond. We may also keep a record of these to inform any future communication with us and to demonstrate how we communicated with you throughout. We do this on the basis of our contractual obligations to you, our legal obligations and our legitimate interests in providing you with the best service and understanding how we can improve our service based on your experience. 

To protect our business and your account from fraud and other illegal activities. This includes using your personal data to maintain, update and safeguard your account. We’ll also monitor your browsing activity with us to quickly identify and resolve any problems and protect the integrity of our websites. We’ll do all of this as part of our legitimate interest. 

For example, by automated monitoring of IP addresses to identify possible fraudulent log-ins from unexpected locations.

To protect our customers, premises, assets and Employees from crime, we operate CCTV systems in our stores and car parks which record images for security. We do this on the basis of our legitimate business interests.

We manage some of our car parks in conjunction with Total Parking Solutions Limited (www.totalparking.co.uk  please note we can’t be responsible for the content of external websites)

To process payments and to prevent fraudulent transactions. We do this on the basis of our legitimate business interests. This also helps to protect our customers from fraud.

If we discover any criminal activity or alleged criminal activity through our use of CCTV, fraud monitoring and suspicious transaction monitoring, we will process this data for the purposes of preventing or detecting unlawful acts. We aim is to protect the individuals we interact with from criminal activities.

To keep you informed by email, web, text, telephone about relevant products and services including tailored special offers, discounts, promotions, events, competitions and so on.

Of course, you are free to opt out of hearing from us by any of these channels at any time.

To send you relevant, personalised communications by post in relation to updates, offers, services and products. We’ll do this on the basis of our legitimate business interest.

You are free to opt out of hearing from us by post at any time.

To send you communications required by law or which are necessary to inform you about our changes to the services we provide you. For example, updates to this Privacy Notice, product recall notices, and legally required information relating to your orders. These service messages will not include any promotional content and do not require prior consent when sent by email or text message. If we do not use your personal data for these purposes, we would be unable to comply with our legal obligations.

To display the most interesting content to you on our websites, we’ll use data we hold about your favourite brands or products and so on. We do so on the basis of your consent to place cookies or similar technology on your device.

For example, we might display a list of items you’ve recently looked at, or offer you recommendations based on your purchase history and any other data you’ve shared with us.

To administer any of our prize draws or competitions which you enter, based on your consent given at the time of entering.

To develop, test and improve the systems, services and products we provide to you. We’ll do this on the basis of our legitimate business interests.

For example, we’ll record your browser’s Session ID to help us understand more when you leave us online feedback about any problems you’re having

To comply with our contractual or legal obligations to share data with law enforcement.

For example, when a court order is submitted to share data with law enforcement agencies or a court of law

To send you survey and feedback requests to help improve our services. These messages will not include any promotional content and do not require prior consent when sent by email or text message. We have a legitimate interest to do so as this helps make our products or services more relevant to you.

Of course, you are free to opt out of receiving these requests from us at any time by updating your preferences in your online account.

To build a rich picture of who you are and what you like, and to inform our business decisions, we’ll combine data captured from across the Company, third parties and data from publicly-available lists as we have described in the section ‘What Sort of Personal Data do we collect?’ We’ll do this on the basis of our legitimate business interest.

For example, by combining this data, this will help us personalise your experience and decide which inspiration or content to share with you.

To process your booking/appointment requests

Sometimes, we’ll need to share your details with a third party who is providing a service (such as delivery couriers or fitter or technician visiting your home). Without sharing your personal data, we’d be unable to fulfil your request.

7. Cookies

Our site uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our Site.  This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our Site and also allows us to improve our Site.  By continuing to browse the Site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

A "cookie" is a piece of information that is stored on your computer, tablet or phone to recognise your browser and which records how you have used a website. This means that when you go back to that website, it can give you tailored options based on the information it has stored about your last visit. You can normally alter the settings of your browser to prevent it from accepting cookies.

How do we use cookies? 

We may use cookies to improve the way the Site works and to monitor how people use our Site. This helps us to understand how people use our Site so we can develop and improve the design, layout and function of the Site. 

The cookies we use are explained below:

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the Site and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the Site. Without these cookies, services you have asked for, such as logging into your account, cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you have been on the internet.

Functionality cookies 

These cookies allow our Site to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced features. For instance, a website may be able to provide you with news or updates relevant to the products you buy. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, font and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have requested such as viewing a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect is usually anonymised. They do not gather any information about you that could be used for advertising or remember where you have been on the internet.

Third Party Cookies

Please note that third parties (including, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be analytical/performance cookies or targeting cookies. You block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site. This clause should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy and website terms and conditions, which also appear on our website.

Google Analytics 

The Site uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”).  Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyse how users use the Site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the Site (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.  Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the Site, compiling reports on Site activity for operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.  Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.  Google lists the cookies used by their analytics service on the following web page:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage. 

By using this Site, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

How to reject cookies

If you do not wish to receive cookies that are not strictly necessary to perform basic features of our Site you can set your browser to reject cookies or to tell you when a website tries to put a cookie on your computer.

Note that most web browsers will accept cookies, but if you would rather that we did not collect data in this way you can choose to accept all or some or reject cookies in your browser's privacy settings.  Rejecting all cookies means that certain features on the Site cannot then be provided to you and accordingly you may not be able to take full advantage of all our Site's features. The "Help" menu in the bar of most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie and how to disable cookies altogether. Additionally, you can disable or delete similar data used by browser add-ons, such as Flash cookies, by changing the add-ons settings or visiting the website of its manufacturer.

 

More information

For more information generally on cookies and how to disable them please go to the Information Commissioner’s webpage on cookies: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies.

 

Cookie preferences 

There is a notice on our home page which describes how we use cookies and which also provides a link to this Privacy Policy. If you use the Site after this notification has been displayed to you and your browser is set to accept cookies, we will assume that you consent to our use of cookies and other similar technologies as described in this Privacy Policy for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. If you change your mind in the future about letting us use cookies, you can modify the settings of your browser to reject cookies or disable cookies completely.

8. Using our website

Hotjar

We use Hotjar to understand how you use our website through their services that include heatmaps, page usage recordings and feedback polls and surveys. The Hotjar privacy policy explains more about how they collect data and keep it safe.

Through the Hotjar tracking code embedded on our website, the information collected includes:

Device-specific data

  • The following information may be collected through your device and browser:
  • your device's IP address (collected and stored in an anonymised format)
  • device screen size
  • device type (unique device identifiers) and browser information
  • geographic location (country only)
  • preferred language used to display the webpage.

Log data

Our servers automatically record information which is created upon using Hotjar. Data includes:

  • referring domain
  • pages visited
  • geographic location (country only)
  • preferred language used to display the webpage
  • date and time when website pages were accessed.

Cookies set by Hotjar

Name Description Expires
_hjUserId This cookie is set as soon as a user loads a page which contains the Hotjar code. The cookie contains a universally unique identifier (UUID) which allows Hotjar to track the same visitor across multiple pages and sessions.

One year

_hjClosedSurveyInvites This cookie is set once a visitor interacts with a Survey invitation modal popup. It is used to ensure that the same invite does not re-appear if it has already been shown. One year
_hjDonePolls This cookie is set once a visitor completes a poll using the Feedback Poll widget. It is used to ensure that the same poll does not re-appear if it has already been filled in. One year
_hjMinimizedPolls This cookie is set once a visitor minimises a Feedback Poll widget. It is used to ensure that the widget stays minimises when the visitor navigates through a site. One year
_hjDoneTestersWidgets This cookie is set once a visitor submits their information in the Recruit User Testers widget. It is used to ensure that the same form does not re-appear if it has already been filled in. One year
_hjMinimizedTestersWidgets This cookie is set once a visitor minimises a Recruit User Testers widget. It is used to ensure that the widget stays minimises when the visitor navigates through your site. One year
_hjIncludedInSample This session cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate funnels. When you close the browser

Opt out of Hotjar tracking

You can opt out of Hotjar tracking by turning on the Do Not Track header in your web browser.

9. Combining your data for personalised direct marketing

We may analyse your browsing and purchasing activity, both on-line and in store, and your responses to marketing communications. The results of this analysis, together with other demographic data, allows us to ensure that we contact you with information on products and offers that are relevant to you. To do so, we use software and other technology (automated processing). 

10. How we protect your personal data

We know how much data security matters to all our customers. With this in mind we will treat your data with the utmost care and take all appropriate steps to protect it.  We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed.  In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know.  They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. 

 

Examples of our security provisions include: 

  • We secure access to all transactional areas of our websites using ‘https’ technology.
  • Access to your personal data is password-protected, and sensitive data (such as payment card information) is secured by SSL encryption.
  • We regularly monitor our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks, and we carry out penetration testing to identify ways to further strengthen security.

11. How long will we keep your personal data?

Whenever we collect or process your personal data, we’ll only keep it for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. 

At the end of that retention period, your data will either be deleted completely or anonymised, for example by aggregation with other data so that it can be used in a non-identifiable way for statistical analysis and business planning.

Some examples of customer data retention periods: 

Orders

When you place an order, we’ll keep the personal data you give us for seven years so we can comply with our legal and contractual obligations. In the case of certain products where we offer extended warranties we’ll keep the data for 10 years or as long as the warranty period requires.

Warranties

If your order included a warranty, the associated personal data will be kept until the end of the warranty period.

12. Who do we share your personal data with?

We sometimes share your personal data with trusted third parties where required by law, where it is necessary to administer the working relationship with you or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.  For example, delivery couriers, technicians visiting your home, for fraud management, to handle complaints, to help us personalise our offers to you.  

Examples of the kind of third parties we work with are:

  • IT companies who support our website and other business systems.
  • Operational companies such as delivery couriers.
  • Direct marketing companies who help us manage our electronic communications with you.
  • Google/Facebook/Twitter to show you products that might interest you while you’re browsing the internet. This is based on either your marketing consent or your acceptance of cookies on our websites. See our Cookies Notice for details.
  • Data insight companies to ensure your details are up to date and accurate. 
  • Law enforcement bodies 

We may, from time to time, expand, reduce or sell the Company and this may involve the transfer of divisions or the whole business to new owners. If this happens, your personal data will, where relevant, be transferred to the new owner or controlling party, under the terms of this Privacy Notice.

Any third parties will be bound by contractual provisions with us and only have access to personal data to perform the described purposes, and may not use it for other purposes.  Further, they must process the personal data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and as permitted by GDPE, the Data Protection Act 1998 and subsequently the Data Protection Act 2018 (subject to royal assent), the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the E-Privacy Regulations when it comes into effect. 

For further information, please contact our Data Protection Officer.

13. Where your personal data may be processed

To deliver products and services to you, it is sometimes necessary for us to share your data outside of the European Economic Area.  This will typically occur when service providers are located outside the EEA or if you are based outside the EEA. These transfers are subject to special rules under data protection laws.  If this happens, we will ensure that the transfer will be compliant with data protection law and all personal data will be secure. Our standard practice is to use ‘standard data protection clauses’ which have been approved by the European Commission for such transfers.

14. What are your rights over your personal data?

It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes during your business relationship with us. 

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information    we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
  • Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
  • Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
  • Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
  • Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
  • Request the transfer of your personal information to another party. 

 

If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact Data Protection Officer, Stokers Limited 277 Wennington Road Southport PR9 7TW or email subject.access.request@stokers.co.uk.  Please note, there are some specific circumstances where these rights do not apply and we can refuse to deal with your request.

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

Right to withdraw consent

In the limited circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.

15. How can you stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing?

There are several ways you can stop direct marketing communications from us:

Click the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any email communication that we send you. We will then stop any further emails from that particular division.

Write to Stokers Limited 277 Wennington Road Southport PR9 7TW.

Please note that you may continue to receive communications for a short period after changing your preferences while our systems are fully updated.

16. How our providers use your personal data

When you apply for a product or service from one of our chosen providers, your data will be collected and used by them under the terms of their own separate privacy policies.

These are our chosen providers’ privacy policies (all links open in a new window; please note we can’t be responsible for the content of external websites):

V12 Retail Finance - https://v12retailfinance.com

Staingard - https://staingard.co.uk

17. Contacting the Regulator

If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

You can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113.

Write to them at Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Or go online to www.ico.org.uk/concerns (opens in a new window; please note we can’t be responsible for the content of external websites)

If you are based outside the UK, you have the right to lodge your complaint with the relevant data protection regulator in your country of residence.

18. Any questions?

We hope this Privacy Notice has been helpful in setting out the way we handle your personal data and your rights to control it.

If you have any questions that haven’t been covered, please contact our Data Protection Officer who will be pleased to help you:

Email us at our_dpo@stokers.co.uk

Or write to us at Data Protection Officer, Stokers Limited 277 Wennington Road Southport PR9 7TW

19. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time and this policy will be reviewed every 2 years.  We will provide you with a new privacy notice when we make any substantial updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal information. 

This notice was last updated on 14/05/2018