Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1st June 2026

1. Who We Are

Skills Shape provides employability, confidence, progression and independence support for young adults, parents/carers and organisations.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, Skills Shape is the controller of the personal information described in this Privacy Policy.

Business name: Skills Shape
Website: www.skillsshape.co.uk
Email: paul@skillsshape.co.uk
Business address: King Street , Lostiwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0AQ

2. How We Collect Your Information

We may collect personal information when you:

  • Contact us through our website, email, phone or social media

  • Complete an enquiry form, quiz or request for information

  • Book a free call or coaching session

  • Purchase or enquire about a Skills Shape service

  • Subscribe to receive resources, updates or marketing communications

  • Attend a session, workshop or programme

  • Work with us through an organisation, training provider, college or referral partner

  • Interact with our website, subject to your cookie preferences

3. Information We May Collect

Depending on how you interact with Skills Shape, we may collect:

  • Name

  • Email address

  • Telephone number

  • Age range

  • Parent/carer or young adult status

  • Information about the support you are looking for

  • Career interests, goals, strengths and progression plans

  • CV, employment, education or training information

  • Booking and payment information

  • Communications with us

  • Quiz responses and results

  • Website usage information, where you have agreed to analytics or marketing cookies

We aim to collect only the information needed to provide our services, respond to enquiries and improve the support we offer.

4. Why We Use Your Information

We may use your personal information to:

  • Respond to enquiries and provide information about Skills Shape

  • Arrange and deliver coaching, workshops or support sessions

  • Provide requested resources, including your Skills Shape Action Plan

  • Manage bookings, payments, invoices and customer records

  • Understand support needs and tailor our services

  • Communicate with parents/carers, young adults or organisational contacts where appropriate

  • Send service-related information

  • Send marketing emails or updates where you have opted in

  • Improve our website, services and customer experience

  • Meet legal, safeguarding, insurance, accounting or regulatory responsibilities

  • Protect the safety, rights and wellbeing of those who use our services

5. Our Lawful Bases for Using Your Information

We use personal information only where we have a lawful basis under UK data protection law.

This may include:

Contract

Where we need your information to provide a service you have requested, manage a booking, issue an invoice or deliver agreed support.

Legitimate Interests

Where it is reasonable and necessary for us to run and improve Skills Shape, respond to enquiries, maintain customer relationships, protect our business and deliver a good service.

We will always consider your rights and privacy before relying on legitimate interests.

Consent

Where you have actively agreed to receive marketing emails, updates, resources or other optional communications.

You can withdraw consent at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe link included in marketing emails.

Legal Obligation

Where we need to keep or share information to meet legal, accounting, insurance, safeguarding or other regulatory responsibilities.

6. Marketing Communications

We may send you information about Skills Shape services, resources, workshops or offers where you have given consent to receive marketing communications.

You can unsubscribe at any time by:

We will not sell your personal information to third parties.

7. Who We May Share Information With

We may share information with trusted service providers where necessary to run Skills Shape and provide our services. This may include:

  • Squarespace, which supports our website and website forms

  • Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Bookings for email, document storage and appointment booking

  • Payment providers, if used

  • Accounting providers or professional advisers

  • Insurance providers, where required

  • Email marketing or CRM providers, if used

  • IT, website or technical support providers

  • Organisations that refer an individual to us, where this has been agreed or is necessary for programme delivery

  • Safeguarding, emergency or statutory agencies where we believe there is a legal duty or serious safety concern

We only share information where necessary, appropriate and lawful.

8. Special Category and Safeguarding Information

We do not usually need to collect special category personal data, such as health information, ethnicity, religion or information about mental health.

However, in limited situations, an individual or parent/carer may choose to provide information that is relevant to safe and appropriate support.

Where this happens, we will handle the information carefully and only use it where necessary, lawful and appropriate. We may ask for explicit consent where required.

If we believe someone is at immediate risk of harm, we may need to share relevant information with appropriate services to protect safety and wellbeing.

9. How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected.

As a guide:

  • General enquiries that do not become customers: up to 12 months

  • Marketing contacts: until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent

  • Coaching, workshop and customer records: up to 6 years after the end of the service, unless a different retention period is required

  • Financial and invoice records: retained in line with legal and accounting requirements

  • Safeguarding records: retained for as long as necessary to protect individuals and meet legal or safeguarding responsibilities

We may securely delete or anonymise information when it is no longer needed.

10. How We Keep Information Secure

We take appropriate steps to protect your information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

These steps may include:

  • Password-protected systems and devices

  • Secure email and cloud storage

  • Restricted access to customer information

  • Appropriate privacy and confidentiality procedures

  • Secure deletion or disposal of records when no longer required

No online system can be guaranteed completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold.

11. International Transfers

Some of our service providers may store or process information outside the UK.

Where this happens, we will use providers that have appropriate safeguards in place to protect personal information in line with UK data protection requirements.

12. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have the right to:

  • Ask for access to the personal information we hold about you

  • Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information

  • Ask us to delete information in certain circumstances

  • Ask us to restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances

  • Object to certain types of processing

  • Withdraw consent where we rely on consent

  • Ask for your information to be provided in a portable format where applicable

  • Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at:

hello@skillsshape.co.uk

We may need to confirm your identity before responding to a request.

13. Children and Young People

Skills Shape may provide support to young adults and, where appropriate, younger people through organisations, programmes or parent/carer arrangements.

Where we collect information from or about a younger person, we aim to provide information in a clear and age-appropriate way. We may communicate with a parent, carer, referrer or organisation where appropriate, agreed or required for safeguarding.

14. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, including booking platforms, social media pages or partner organisations.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external websites. Please check their privacy policies before providing personal information.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our services, systems or legal requirements.

The latest version will always be published on this page.

16. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how Skills Shape uses personal information, please contact:

Skills Shape
Email: hello@skillsshape.co.uk
Website: www.skillsshape.co.uk