1. About this privacy notice
Oakmyre Limited (“Oakmyre”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.
This privacy notice explains how we collect, use, share, retain and protect personal information in connection with our recruitment, executive search, interim, consultancy, leadership advisory, career advisory and career transition services. It applies to candidates, contractors, clients, prospective clients, suppliers, programme participants and other people with whom we interact.
We process personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and other applicable data protection and privacy legislation.
2. Who we are
Oakmyre Limited is the controller of the personal information described in this notice unless we tell you otherwise.
Company: Oakmyre Limited
Company number: 16609903
Registered office: 71 to 75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom
Email: info@oakmyre.com
Telephone: 07980 012671
Website: www.oakmyre.com
Oakmyre is not required to appoint a formal Data Protection Officer. Data protection enquiries should be directed to the contact details above.
3. The information we collect
The information we collect depends on our relationship with you and the services involved.
3.1 Candidates, contractors and applicants
We may collect:
- Identification and contact details, including your name, address, email address and telephone number.
- Information contained in your CV, application or professional profile, including employment history, job titles, responsibilities, achievements, qualifications, training and professional memberships.
- Job-search information, including your availability, location, salary or day-rate expectations, preferred working arrangements and career interests.
- Application and assessment information, including supporting statements, interview notes, assessment results, feedback and our communications with you.
- References and information provided by referees.
- Publicly available professional information, including information from LinkedIn, company websites and other professional or public sources.
- Right-to-work, identity and compliance information.
- Financial and payment information where it is necessary to arrange or administer an assignment.
- Information about directorships, sanctions, adverse media, credit history, education, employment and professional standing where a relevant and proportionate background check is requested.
- Marketing and communication preferences.
3.2 Special category and criminal offence information
Where it is necessary and lawful, we may process information about:
- Health, disability or adjustments required during a recruitment process, assignment or programme.
- Racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or other diversity information, where you choose to provide it for equality monitoring.
- Criminal convictions and offences, including the outcome of a DBS or other criminal-record check, where the role and the law permit or require the check.
We do not ask for sensitive information unless it is relevant and proportionate. Diversity information is optional and, where possible, is anonymised or aggregated. Criminal offence information is handled separately from special category information and only under an applicable condition in the Data Protection Act 2018.
3.3 Clients and prospective clients
We may collect:
- Your name, job title, employer and business contact details.
- Vacancy, workforce, organisational and recruitment requirements.
- Candidate and interview feedback.
- Records of meetings, calls, correspondence, proposals and contractual arrangements.
- Billing, payment and account information.
- Professional interests and communication preferences.
3.4 Career advisory and career transition participants
We may collect information needed to deliver the service, including your CV, LinkedIn profile information, employment history, career objectives, applications, supporting statements, interview notes, coaching notes and feedback. We may also process accessibility or adjustment information where this is needed to support your participation.
Where an organisation funds a service, we will explain what information, if any, will be shared with that organisation. We will not ordinarily disclose the confidential content of an individual session without your knowledge or an appropriate legal basis.
3.5 Suppliers and other business contacts
We may collect your name, job title, organisation, contact details, correspondence, service information, contractual details and payment information.
3.6 Website and technical information
When you use our website, we or our service providers may collect technical information such as your IP address, browser and device information, pages visited and cookie preferences. Further information is provided in our cookie notice or cookie controls, where applicable.
4. How we obtain personal information
We may obtain information:
- Directly from you, including when you contact us, submit a CV, apply for a role, complete a form, attend an interview or programme, enter into a contract or purchase a service.
- From clients, referees and people who recommend or refer you to us.
- From job boards, recruitment platforms and professional networks, including LinkedIn, where you have made information available or permitted the platform to share it.
- From publicly accessible sources, including company, regulator, professional body and charity websites.
- From background screening, identity, right-to-work and reference providers, with appropriate notice and authorisation.
- From payroll, umbrella, intermediary or framework partners involved in arranging an assignment.
If we obtain your personal information from another source, we will provide relevant privacy information within the period required by law, normally within one month, or earlier if we contact you or disclose your information to a client.
5. How and why we use personal information
We may use personal information to:
- Provide recruitment, executive search, interim, consultancy and advisory services.
- Identify and contact people who may be suitable for relevant opportunities.
- Assess skills, experience, suitability, availability and preferences.
- Represent candidates to clients after appropriate discussion and, where required, permission.
- Arrange interviews, provide feedback and manage recruitment processes.
- Obtain references and carry out proportionate pre-employment or pre-assignment checks.
- Confirm identity, right to work and other legal or client compliance requirements.
- Arrange and administer placements, assignments, contracts, timesheets, payments and related services.
- Deliver career advisory, coaching and career transition programmes.
- Manage client and supplier relationships, enquiries, proposals, contracts, invoicing and payments.
- Develop professional relationships and contact relevant business people about Oakmyre’s services, market information or potential recruitment needs.
- Maintain accurate records, deal with queries and complaints, establish or defend legal claims and prevent fraud or misuse.
- Monitor and improve our services, systems, security and business operations.
- Meet legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, audit and insurance requirements.
We will not use personal information for a new purpose that is incompatible with the purpose for which it was collected unless the law permits or requires us to do so. Where required, we will give you further information before using it for a new purpose.
6. Our lawful bases
We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases, depending on the activity:
- Contract: where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing a paid career advisory service or administering an agreed assignment.
- Legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for Oakmyre’s or a third party’s legitimate interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights. These interests include delivering and developing recruitment and advisory services, identifying suitable candidates, maintaining professional relationships, responding to client needs, keeping business records, improving services, ensuring security and establishing or defending legal claims. We assess and balance these interests where required.
- Consent: where we ask for your clear agreement for a particular activity. You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting us. Withdrawal does not affect processing already carried out lawfully.
- Legal obligation: where processing is necessary to comply with legal or regulatory requirements, including tax, accounting and right-to-work obligations.
- Vital interests: in the rare event that processing is necessary to protect someone’s life.
Where we process special category information, we also identify an applicable condition under Article 9 UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Depending on the circumstances, this may include explicit consent, employment and social protection law, legal claims or substantial public interest.
Where we process criminal offence information, we identify both an Article 6 lawful basis and an applicable condition under Article 10 UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018. We maintain an Appropriate Policy Document where the relevant condition requires one.
7. Background screening
For some appointments, a client may request proportionate pre-employment or pre-assignment screening. Depending on the role, this may include identity, digital right-to-work, employment, education, reference, directorship, sanctions, adverse media, social media, credit or criminal-record checks.
We will tell you which checks are proposed before they are initiated. Checks are carried out only where relevant to the role, permitted by law and supported by an appropriate lawful basis and, where applicable, an additional condition for special category or criminal offence information.
Oakmyre may use a specialist screening provider, currently CV Insight, to carry out agreed checks. The provider may collect information directly from you and will provide its own privacy information. Relevant results may be shared with Oakmyre and the recruiting client. We will not disclose more information than is necessary for the relevant recruitment or compliance decision.
8. Who we share personal information with
Where necessary and lawful, we may share personal information with:
- Clients and prospective employers considering a candidate for a specific opportunity.
- Payroll, umbrella, intermediary, framework and managed-service partners involved in an assignment, including Simplicity where applicable.
- Background screening, identity, right-to-work and reference providers.
- Recruitment CRM, applicant tracking, email, document storage, website, communications and other technology providers.
- Accountants, auditors, insurers, legal advisers and other professional advisers.
- Government departments, regulators, law-enforcement bodies, courts or other authorities where disclosure is required or permitted by law.
- A prospective purchaser, investor or successor if Oakmyre is involved in a genuine sale, merger, restructuring or transfer of business, subject to appropriate confidentiality arrangements.
We require service providers acting on our behalf to protect personal information and use it only in accordance with our instructions and applicable law. Some recipients act as independent controllers and will provide their own privacy information.
We do not sell or rent personal information.
We do not normally send a candidate’s CV or identifiable profile to a client without first discussing the specific opportunity with the candidate. There may be limited circumstances in which we rely on legitimate interests, but we will always consider the candidate’s reasonable expectations and rights.
9. International transfers
Some technology and service providers may store or access personal information outside the United Kingdom.
Where a restricted international transfer takes place, we use an appropriate transfer mechanism. This may include UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or another mechanism permitted by UK data protection law. Where required, we assess the risks of the transfer and apply additional safeguards.
You may contact us for further information about the safeguards relevant to your personal information.
10. Data security
We use proportionate technical and organisational measures intended to protect personal information from accidental or unlawful loss, alteration, disclosure, access or misuse. These include access controls, secure systems, appropriate authentication, device and account security, controlled sharing, backups where appropriate and due diligence on relevant service providers.
Access is limited to people and providers who need the information for an authorised purpose and are subject to confidentiality or contractual obligations. We maintain procedures for responding to suspected personal data breaches and will notify affected individuals and the Information Commissioner’s Office where legally required.
No method of electronic storage or transmission is completely secure, but we regularly consider and update our safeguards in light of the nature of the information and the risks involved.
11. How long we keep personal information
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, regulatory, contractual, accounting, insurance and reporting requirements. Our usual periods are:
- Candidate and recruitment records: normally 24 months from the last meaningful contact or recruitment activity, after which they are deleted or anonymised unless there is a continuing relationship, live assignment, legal requirement or another documented reason to retain them.
- Placement and assignment records: for the duration of the placement or assignment and afterwards for the period needed to meet contractual, tax, accounting, insurance or legal-claims requirements.
- Background screening information: only for as long as necessary for the recruitment, compliance or legal purpose. Detailed reports are normally deleted sooner than general placement records and are not retained merely because they may be useful in the future. Screening providers may apply their own disclosed retention periods.
- Career advisory and career transition records: normally for the duration of the service and up to 24 months afterwards, unless a longer period is needed to complete the service, maintain necessary financial records or deal with a legal claim.
- Client, supplier and financial records: for the relationship and normally six years after the end of the relevant financial year or contract, unless a longer period is required for a specific legal or contractual reason.
- Business-development contacts: while the professional relationship or legitimate business interest remains relevant, subject to periodic review and your right to object.
- Marketing suppression records: for as long as necessary to ensure we continue to respect an opt-out.
- Complaints and rights requests: for the period needed to handle the matter and normally up to six years afterwards where necessary to demonstrate compliance or manage legal claims.
When deciding retention periods, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the information, the risk of harm, the purposes for which it is used and applicable legal requirements. At the end of the retention period, information is securely deleted or anonymised.
12. When providing information is required
In most cases, providing personal information is voluntary. However, some information may be required by law, by contract or to progress a recruitment process or assignment. For example, we may need identity, right-to-work, payment or compliance information before an assignment can begin.
If required information is not provided, we may be unable to represent you for a role, complete a check, arrange an assignment, make a payment, enter into a contract or provide a requested service. We will explain this where it applies.
13. Automated decision-making and artificial intelligence
Oakmyre does not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about candidates or other individuals solely through automated processing.
Technology, including search, matching or artificial intelligence tools, may assist us in organising information, identifying potentially relevant experience or preparing materials. Meaningful human judgement remains part of our recruitment and advisory work. We take reasonable steps to review outputs, protect confidentiality and avoid relying on inaccurate or inappropriate automated conclusions.
If this approach changes, we will update this notice and provide the information and safeguards required by law.
14. Direct marketing and your right to object
We may use relevant business contact information to communicate with clients and prospective clients about Oakmyre’s services, potential candidates, events, insights or market developments where permitted by data protection law and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
We may rely on legitimate interests for proportionate business-to-business marketing. Where consent is required, we will ask for it. Marketing communications will include a simple way to opt out where appropriate.
You have an absolute right to object at any time to the use of your personal information for direct marketing. You also have the right to object to other processing based on legitimate interests.
To opt out or object, contact info@oakmyre.com or use the unsubscribe option in the communication. We may retain minimal information on a suppression list so that we continue to respect your request.
15. Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis involved, you may have the right to:
- Be informed about how your personal information is used.
- Request access to your personal information.
- Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
- Ask us to delete information in certain circumstances.
- Ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances.
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests and object to direct marketing at any time.
- Receive certain information in a portable format where the right to data portability applies.
- Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.
- Request safeguards in relation to qualifying automated decisions.
- Complain to Oakmyre and to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
These rights are not absolute and may not apply to every piece of information or processing activity. We may ask for information needed to confirm your identity. We will normally respond within one month of receiving a valid request. Where the law permits an extension, we will explain the reason and the expected timescale.
There is normally no fee for exercising your rights, although the law permits a reasonable fee or refusal in limited circumstances.
To exercise a right, contact info@oakmyre.com.
16. Data protection complaints
If you are concerned about how Oakmyre has collected or used your personal information, please email info@oakmyre.com with the subject line Data Protection Complaint, or write to our registered office.
Please provide your name, contact details, a description of your concern, relevant dates and any outcome you are seeking. We will take reasonable steps to help you submit your complaint, acknowledge it within 30 days, investigate it appropriately and respond without undue delay. We will keep you informed where an investigation requires more time.
If you are dissatisfied with our response, or prefer to contact the regulator directly, you may complain to:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk
We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concern first, but this does not affect your right to contact the ICO.
17. Changes to this notice
We may update this privacy notice to reflect changes in our services, suppliers, technology or legal obligations. The current version will be published on our website with its updated date. Where a change has a significant effect on how we use personal information, we will take reasonable steps to bring it to the attention of affected individuals.