1. Who We Are
Valknut Group Ltd ("Valknut Group", "we", "us", or "our") is a recruitment and workforce solutions company registered in England and Wales. Our registered office is at Challenge Enterprise Centre, Sharps Close, Portsmouth, PO3 5RJ.
We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, and your rights in relation to it. We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
For any privacy-related enquiries, please contact us at enquiries@valknutgroup.com.
2. What Personal Data We Collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data:
- Identity data: name, job title, professional qualifications, and work history.
- Contact data: email address, telephone number, and postal address.
- Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types, operating system, and platform.
- Usage data: information about how you use our website, products, and services.
- Communications data: your preferences in receiving marketing from us and your communication preferences.
- Candidate data: curriculum vitae, cover letters, employment history, qualifications, references, and right-to-work documentation (where applicable).
3. How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data through:
- Direct interactions — when you submit an enquiry via our contact form, apply for a role, or correspond with us by email or telephone.
- Automated technologies — cookies and similar tracking technologies when you visit our website (see our Cookie Policy).
- Third parties — job boards, referral partners, and publicly available professional profiles (e.g. LinkedIn).
4. How We Use Your Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
- To provide recruitment and workforce solutions services to you or your organisation.
- To match candidates with suitable employment opportunities.
- To respond to enquiries and manage our relationship with you.
- To comply with legal and regulatory obligations.
- To improve our website, services, and business operations.
- To send marketing communications where you have consented or where we have a legitimate interest in doing so.
5. Legal Basis for Processing
We rely on the following legal bases to process your personal data:
- Contract: where processing is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into one.
- Legal obligation: where we are required to comply with a legal obligation.
- Legitimate interests: where it is in our legitimate business interests to do so, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights.
- Consent: where you have freely given, specific, and informed consent.
6. Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. For candidate data, we typically retain records for up to 2 years from last contact unless you request otherwise or we are required by law to retain them longer.
7. Sharing Your Data
We may share your personal data with:
- Client companies for the purpose of fulfilling recruitment mandates, with your knowledge and consent.
- Our technology and service providers (e.g. CRM platforms, email services) who process data on our behalf under data processing agreements.
- Regulatory authorities or law enforcement agencies where required by law.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties.
8. International Transfers
Valknut Group operates internationally from its UK base, serving clients across South Africa, USA, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Where we transfer personal data outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses or adequacy decisions.
9. Your Rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights:
- Access: the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification: the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erasure: the right to request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances.
- Restriction: the right to request that we restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.
- Portability: the right to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
- Objection: the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at enquiries@valknutgroup.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
10. Security
We have put in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal data to those employees and service providers who have a legitimate need to know it.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
