Cookie & Privacy Policy

Let’s face it: privacy policies are the least exciting thing on our website. To make this more pleasant, please imagine Ryan Gosling is reading this to you in his most charming voice while leaning against a perfectly styled mantelpiece.

Who we are

Helion Interiors (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a residential interior design studio based in Kingston upon Thames. We are responsible for the personal data we collect through this website and when you work with us. You can contact us about anything in this policy at hi@helioninteriors.uk.

What we collect

• Contact and enquiry forms: your name, email address, phone number (if you give it), the type of enquiry and your message.
• Gift voucher requests: your name and email, the recipient’s name and email, the voucher amount, your preferred payment method and any personal message.
• Live chat: if you start a chat, the messages you send and any name or email you choose to give, plus technical details such as your IP address and browser.
• Visit counts: we count page visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which doesn’t use cookies, doesn’t store anything on your device and doesn’t identify you.
• Analytics: if you agree, information about how you use the site, such as pages visited, time on page, approximate location (city level), device and browser. Microsoft Clarity may also record anonymised mouse movements, clicks and scrolling so we can see where the site is confusing.
• Emails and client work: anything you send us directly, and the information we need to deliver your design project, such as your address, photos and measurements of your home, and your preferences.

Why we use it and our lawful basis

• To reply to your enquiry and give you a quote: legitimate interests, and taking steps at your request before entering into a contract.
• To deliver our design services and manage payments: performance of a contract.
• To count visits without cookies: legitimate interests in knowing how many people use the site.
• To run analytics and live chat: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
• To keep financial and business records: legal obligation.

We never sell your data, and we don’t use it for automated decision-making.

Who we share it with

We use a small number of trusted service providers to run this website and our business. They only process your data on our instructions:

• Web3Forms, which delivers website form messages to our inbox.
• Tawk.to, which provides our live chat.
• Google (Google Analytics) and Microsoft (Clarity), for analytics, only if you consent.
• Hostinger, which hosts this website and provides our email.
• Cloudflare, which counts visits to this website without cookies.

If you become a client, we may share relevant project details with suppliers and tradespeople, but only with your agreement. We may also share information with professional advisers, such as our accountant, or where the law requires it.

International transfers

Some of these providers store data outside the UK, including in the United States. Where this happens, we rely on the safeguards provided by UK law, such as the UK–US data bridge or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries that don’t lead to a project: up to 12 months.
• Client records: 6 years after the end of the project, as required for tax and accounting purposes.
• Analytics data: up to 14 months (Google Analytics) and 13 months (Microsoft Clarity).
• Live chat transcripts: deleted when no longer needed to help you.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to ask for a copy of your data, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, to ask for it to be transferred, and to withdraw your consent at any time. To use any of these rights, email hi@helioninteriors.uk. We will reply within one month.

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data, please talk to us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Cookies

Cookies are small files saved in your browser. We only use non-essential cookies if you say yes, and you can change your mind at any time using the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.