Our Privacy Policy

"Legitimate interest" means our interest in running and developing our business in a way that does not override your interests, rights, or freedoms. We complete a legitimate interest assessment before relying on this basis.

6. Marketing

We may send you marketing communications about our services, events, and updates where you are an existing client or have enquired about our services, and you have not opted out.

You can ask us to stop sending marketing communications at any time by emailing hello@theindependentbuyinggroup.co.uk or by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email we send you.

We will not share your personal data with any third party for their own marketing purposes.

7. Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. We use cookies to ensure our website and directory function correctly and to understand how visitors use them.

Website cookies (theindependentbuyinggroup.co.uk)

Our website is hosted on Squarespace, which places the following cookies:

●      crumb — a security cookie that protects against cross-site request forgery. Lasts for the browser session.

●      ss_cvr — stores visitor analytics data. Expires after one year.

●      ss_cvt — tracks the time of a visitor's last visit. Expires after 30 minutes.

Supplier directory cookies (directory.theindependentbuyinggroup.co.uk)

Our supplier directory is hosted on Softr. Softr places session and authentication cookies that are strictly necessary to keep you logged in and maintain directory functionality. These cookies do not track you across other websites.

Application form cookies

Our membership application forms are powered by ScoreApp. If you complete an application, ScoreApp may place its own cookies on your device in accordance with ScoreApp's privacy policy.

Managing cookies

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Disabling strictly necessary cookies may affect the functionality of our website and directory. Disabling optional cookies will not affect your access to our content.

8. International data transfers

Some of the third-party service providers we use to operate our business are based outside the United Kingdom. Whenever we transfer your personal data outside the UK, we ensure an appropriate level of protection is in place.

For processors based in the USA, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the Information Commissioner's Office. For processors based in the EU or EEA, we rely on the UK's adequacy decision for those territories.

See section 14 for the complete list of our data processors and the transfer safeguard applicable to each. We do not transfer your personal data to countries without adequate protection unless a separate lawful basis applies.

9. Data retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including meeting legal, accounting, and reporting requirements.

●      Membership and account data — retained for the duration of your membership and for two years after termination.

●      Financial and transaction records — retained for six years after the end of the relevant financial year, as required by HMRC.

●      Marketing data — retained until you opt out or for two years after your last interaction with us, whichever comes first.

●      Enquiry and correspondence data — retained for two years from the date of last contact.

 When personal data is no longer required, we delete it securely.

10. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

●      Right of access — request a copy of the data we hold about you (a subject access request).

●      Right to rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.

●      Right to erasure — ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.

●      Right to restrict processing — ask us to suspend processing of your data in certain circumstances.

●      Right to data portability — request your data in a machine-readable format for transfer to another service.

●      Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interests, or to direct marketing.

●      Right to withdraw consent — where we rely on your consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please email hello@theindependentbuyinggroup.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113. We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly before you contact the ICO.

11. Data security

We have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, accessed, altered, or disclosed without authorisation.

Access to your personal data is limited to those with a legitimate business need to know it. All personnel and third-party processors with access are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have procedures to respond to any suspected data breach and will notify you and the ICO where we are legally required to do so.

12. Third-party links

Our website and directory may contain links to third-party websites or applications. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. We recommend you read the privacy notice of any external site you visit.

13. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time to reflect changes in our business, legal requirements, or services. We will take appropriate steps to inform you of significant changes. The current version is always available at theindependentbuyinggroup.co.uk/privacy.

This notice was last updated on 18 September 2026.

14. Data processors

We use the following third-party processors to deliver our services. Each has contractual obligations to protect your personal data and to process it only in accordance with our written instructions.