Metro Fixings ("the Company", "we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting and respecting the privacy of our trade customers, suppliers, website visitors, and corporate account holders ("you" or "the Buyer").
This Privacy Policy explains exactly how we collect, process, store, and safeguard your personal and corporate data when you visit our website (www.metrofixings.co.uk), open a Trade Credit Account Facility, utilize our digital portal, or communicate with our technical sales and customer care teams. We act as the "Data Controller" under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
2. The Types of Data We Collect
To efficiently manage a commercial stock profile of over 35,000 products and coordinate complex logistics, we collect and process the following categories of data:
Identity & Contact Data: First name, maiden name, last name, job title, company name, corporate email address, billing address, site delivery addresses, and telephone numbers.
Transaction & Financial Data: Details about payments made to and from your account, historical records of products purchased via our e-commerce checkout or sales desk, bank account details (for credit processing), and trade references provided during credit facility applications.
Technical & Usage Data: Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, digital login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and geographical location, browser plug-in types, operating systems, and information regarding how you browse and interact with our digital platform.
Marketing & Communications Data: Your expressed preferences in receiving technical updates, product safety datasheets, or commercial trade offers from us.
3. How We Collect Your Data
We gather data through several distinct pathways:
Direct Interaction: You explicitly provide your details to us when you fill out forms on our website, register a digital trade portal, submit a Trade Credit Account Application Form, request a structural quote, call our technical helpdesk, or correspond with us via email.
Automated Technologies: As you navigate our website, our server systems may automatically collect Technical Data regarding your equipment and browsing patterns. We collect this data using cookies, server logs, and similar tracking technologies.
Third-Party and Public Sources: We may receive financial and identity data about your business from public corporate registers (such as Companies House) or accredited credit reference agencies when assessing credit limit applications.
4. How and Why We Use Your Personal Data
We will only process your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we rely on the legal bases of Contractual Necessity, Legal Obligation, or our Legitimate Interests (such as optimizing our supply chain and maintaining robust account security).
We deploy your data to:
Process, pick, and dispatch your product orders, and manage financial transactions.
Coordinate transport and dispatch logistics, whether via our own dedicated Metro vehicle fleet or through our national express courier networks.
Assess, monitor, and scale your commercial Trade Credit Account lines.
Provide direct technical support, including issuing ETA certification libraries, load-testing calculations, and product datasheets.
Notify you of critical administrative updates, premises movements, or modifications to our Web Order Terms.
Secure and defend our digital platform against fraudulent transactions, unauthorized account use, and cyber threats.
5. Data Sharing and Third-Party Disclosures
Metro Fixings does not sell, rent, or trade your data to external marketing companies. To execute our commercial operations, we only share your data with trusted third parties under strict confidentiality agreements, including:
Logistics Partners: Express courier networks (such as DPD) who require address and contact details to execute safe, timely site deliveries.
Financial & Credit Reference Agencies: Regulated credit-checking organizations used exclusively to evaluate risk during credit account facility setups.
Technology Providers: Trusted IT, web development, ERP software management, and secure, PCI-DSS compliant third-party payment gateways who host and protect our transaction ecosystems.
Legal & Regulatory Authorities: Government bodies or law enforcement agencies if required by statutory legal obligations.
6. International Data Transfers
Our operations are based within the United Kingdom, and we store your data securely within the UK or European Economic Area (EEA). If an international project or global freight requirement necessitates transferring data outside the UK/EEA, we ensure identical data protection protections are contractually enforced via Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs).
7. Data Security and Retention
We have implemented advanced electronic and managerial security protocols to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, altered, disclosed, or accessed in an unauthorised manner. Furthermore, we restrict access to your personal data to those employees and service providers who have a legitimate, business-critical "need to know."
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including satisfying any legal, accounting, tax, or corporate reporting requirements.
8. Your Legal Data Rights
Under UK data protection laws, you possess comprehensive rights regarding your personal data, including the right to:
Request access to a copy of the personal data we hold about you ("Subject Access Request").
Request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
Request the erasure of your personal data under specific legal conditions.
Object to or restrict the processing of your data based on legitimate business interests.
Withdraw your consent to marketing communications at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact our administrative team at sales@metrofixings.co.uk. You also retain the right to lodge a formal complaint at any time with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk).
9. Contact Information
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our treatment of your data, please contact us directly:
