Privacy Policy | Symmetry Partners

Our data protection and privacy policy

Symmetry Partners is committed to protecting the privacy of our clients, candidates and website visitors. We take seriously the importance you place on the privacy and security of information which personally identifies you. We ask that you read this Privacy Policy carefully as it contains important information on, the personal information we collect about you, what we do with your information, and with whom your information might be shared.

This website www.symmetrypartners.co.uk is operated by Ferguson Wells Limited t/a Symmetry Partners. Symmetry Partners is a talent advisory business focused on the delivery of recruitment, research and consultancy services.

The use of this website is possible without the provision by you of personal data. If you submit personal data to us it will be maintained in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’) and any national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, in the UK, until such time as the GDPR is no longer directly applicable to the UK, and then in accordance with the provisions of any successor legislation to the GDPR or the Data Protection Act 1998 (together, ‘the Data Protection Legislation’).

Information we collect

Symmetry Partners provides executive search and leadership advisory services to clients looking to recruit personnel for their businesses. We also provide interim management, consultancy services and market intelligence and talent mapping services. To undertake and continue to provide such a service to candidates/potential candidates and employers/potential employers, it is necessary for Symmetry Partners to process personal information.

The information we collect from you can come from information you directly give us whether at interview or by corresponding with us by phone, email or otherwise. The information you give us may include your name, position and employer details, work history, email address, postal address, phone numbers and information relevant for us to assist you in your career in our capacity as an executive search firm.

We also receive your information from other sources that are in the public domain, such as company websites, professional organisation and regulatory body websites, and professional networking websites (such as LinkedIn) where you are aware that your personal data can be accessed. In addition, some limited personal data may be obtained from our clients and other candidates.

The sharing of personal data, be that of clients or candidates, is key to assessing suitability for potential roles, finding candidates and contacting clients and referees.

Meeting our legitimate business interest requires a database of candidate and client personal data containing historic information and current resourcing requirements. Maintaining, expanding and developing our business demands that we record the personal data of prospective candidates and client contacts, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms, including your right to have your personal data protected.

Depending on the nature of a role for which a candidate may be considered, and also the applicable jurisdiction in which that role may be located, we may need to collect and process sensitive personal data about you (which may include but is not limited to visa and other right to work or identity information and health matters such as details of any sick leave taken during your previous roles), details of any disability, details of any offences you have committed or are alleged to have committed and whether you are a member of any professional or trade associations. Such information may be a legal requirement to perform/qualify for a certain function for which you want to apply based on national laws, which may provide the legal basis to process these data. In cases where there is no other legal basis, we will ask for your express consent for the specific activity for which consent is required and record that response. Such consent can be withdrawn by you at any time.We only ask for and process information relevant to providing our services.

How and where we store your data

All client and candidate data are stored by us on a database in the UK. This database can be accessed only by employees of Symmetry Partners who have a legitimate interest and business requirement to do so. This is a service hosted for us by Invenias, located in London with a back-up copy separately stored in London. More information can be found at www.invenias.com.

We take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information. We require that all our employees and providers of IT services protect your information.

We cannot guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration of personal data will not occur. If information were to be lost or accessed by a third party, for example through the hacking of the IT system or any other means, Symmetry Partners will immediately take steps to comply with its legal obligations under data privacy laws which may include reporting the breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office, informing the individual to whom the information relates and taking disciplinary action where necessary.

Information that we collect will not be transferred to countries which do not have data protection laws equivalent to those in force in the European Economic Area unless and until we have received your express permission for such transfer and we have taken appropriate and adequate steps in so far as is reasonably practicable to ensure the safety of the data to be transferred.

How we use and process your data

Your personal data that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes. We will use your personal data solely for our legitimate business interest as an executive search firm and can be in the form of market maps, long list and short list documents, and market/trend analysis.

Your personal data may be used by us for assessing and reviewing your suitability for roles and notifying you of those potential opportunities.

Your personal data may be processed to enhance, modify, personalise or otherwise improve our services for the benefit of candidates and/or clients. Although this Privacy Policy applies to Symmetry Partners, your data may be accessible to, and shared among our employees to enable us to provide candidates and clients with the appropriate level of service in pursuance of our legitimate business interests.

We will on occasion provide you with news, surveys and events about our business. If you no longer wish to use your data in this way, please let us know. Limited personal data may be retained to ensure that we do not contact you if you have requested us not to do so.

Your personal data will be held in confidence and not passed to any organisation, other than those agreed, without your express permission or unless we are required by law (for example, in the identification and prevention of fraud or bribery or at the request of regulatory authorities or statutory bodies). Your personal data may also be used in responding to a query or dispute, including establishing, exercising or defending any legal claims.

For the avoidance of doubt, we always obtain and record permission from a candidate before sending a curriculum vitae or any other form of application, as appropriate, to a potential employer.

Retention of your data

We will only keep your personal data within the time frames allowed by law and for so long as is necessary to comply with our legal obligations.

Your rights

You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you. Provision of such information will be subject to the supply of appropriate evidence of your identity. We may withhold such personal information to the extent permitted by law.

You have the right to have any inaccurate personal data about you rectified and, taking into account the purposes of the processing, to have any incomplete personal data about you completed.

In some circumstances you have the right to the erasure of your personal data without undue delay. Those circumstances include: the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed; you withdraw consent to consent-based processing; or you object to the processing under certain rules of applicable data protection law.

However, there are exclusions of the right to erasure. The general exclusions include where processing is necessary: for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation (such as the requirement to keep certain records for specific periods of time); or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. These obligations will override any request to erase data or any objection to processing for so long as the data must be kept.

In some circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Those circumstances are: you contest the accuracy of the personal data; processing is unlawful but you oppose erasure; we no longer need the personal data for the purposes of our processing, but you require personal data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; and you have objected to processing, pending the verification of that objection. Where processing has been restricted on this basis, we may continue to store your personal data. However, we will only otherwise process it: with your consent; for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person; or for reasons of important public interest.

You may at any time request that direct marketing by us to you is stopped.

If you have a concern about your personal data, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office https://ico.org.uk/concerns.

Updates and contact

Please let us know if the personal information which we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated. We will regularly review personal data we process to ensure that it is up to date and accurate and welcome your co-operation in this by informing us of any change of name, address or other relevant information. If you would like to review or change the details you have supplied us with, you may do so at any time by notifying us in writing.

In the event of a sale, merger, liquidation, receivership or the transfer of all or part of our assets to a third-party business or company, we will share your personal information with the new owners of the business or company, their employees and relevant advisors. If this happens, you will be sent notice of such event.

We will review and may update this Privacy Policy from time-to-time to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing environment. Where changes are made we will place any new version on our website. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes as any information we hold will be governed by the most current version of the Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our treatment of your personal information, please email us at privacy@symmetrypartners.co.uk