Privacy policy

Who we are

Sowers Recruitment Ltd (“we”, “us”) is a recruitment agency and employment business registered in England & Wales under company number 00000000, with a registered office at 1 Example Street, London, EC1A 1AA. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

⚠️ You must register with the Information Commissioner's Office as a data controller before processing candidate data. Registration costs £52 a year for most small businesses. Add your registration number here once issued.

What we collect

From candidates, we collect the information you give us and the information an employer needs in order to consider you:

• Identity and contact details — name, email, telephone number, and the area you are willing to work in
• Your CV and its contents — employment history, education, qualifications and professional registrations
• Application details — the roles you apply for, your availability, notice period and salary expectations
• Right to work documentation, which we are legally required to check and retain
• References from previous employers, obtained only with your knowledge
• Where a role requires it, criminal records information via a DBS check, and occupational health clearance

Some of this is special category data under UK GDPR — health information and criminal records information in particular. We only process it where a role legally requires it, under Article 9(2)(b) (employment law obligations) and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018, and we hold an appropriate policy document covering that processing.

Why we process it, and our lawful basis

Who we share it with

• Prospective employers — only with your specific approval for that role, never speculatively
• Referees you have named, in order to obtain a reference
• The Disclosure and Barring Service, where a role requires a check
• Our IT and email providers, who process data on our behalf under written contracts (⚠️ list your actual suppliers here — for example Resend for email and Vercel for hosting)
• HMRC and other authorities where we are legally required to do so

We do not sell your data, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing. Where a supplier processes data outside the UK, we rely on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or an adequacy decision.

How long we keep it

We hold candidate records for 24 months from your last meaningful contact with us, then delete them automatically. If we place you, we keep the records required by law — payroll and Conduct Regulations records for six years, and right to work documentation for two years after employment ends.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, free of charge, within one month
• Have inaccurate data corrected
• Have your data deleted — we action candidate deletion requests the same working day
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests, including all marketing
• Withdraw consent at any time, without it affecting any processing already carried out
• Ask us to restrict processing while a dispute is resolved
• Receive your data in a portable, machine-readable format

To exercise any of these, contact hello@sowersrecruitment.co.uk or 0330 000 0000. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113 — though we would rather you told us first so we can put it right.

Security

We hold candidate data in access-controlled systems, encrypt it in transit, and restrict access to consultants who need it for your search. ⚠️ Expand this section to describe your actual arrangements — where CVs are stored, who has access, and what happens if a device is lost.

Cookies

This website sets no advertising or tracking cookies. See our cookie policy for the detail.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when our practices change, and the date at the top will tell you when it was last revised.