Privacy Policy
Perch Group Limited – Candidate Privacy Policy
Effective date: January 2026
Purpose
This privacy policy explains how Perch Group Limited ("Perch Group", "we", "us" or "our") uses the personal information we collect about you when you use our careers site at careers.perchgroup.co.uk (the "Careers Website"), whether as an employee, worker or contractor. The Careers Website is part of the Perch Group online family; our main website is www.perchgroup.co.uk.
We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. This includes the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) (April 2016), the Data Protection Act 2018 (May 2018), and the UK Data (Use and Access) Act (July 2025). These laws set out your rights in relation to your personal information and our obligations when handling it.
Data Protection Principles
We will comply with data protection law and principles, which means that your data will be:
• Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.
• Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.
• Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
• Accurate and kept up to date.
• Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.
• Kept securely.
Who is the Data Controller?
Perch Group Limited (company number: 11206024) is the data controller for personal information collected through the Careers Website. If you have questions about this policy or how we process your personal data, please contact our Data Protection team:
Email: DPO@perchgroup.co.uk
Website: www.perchgroup.co.uk
If you would prefer to contact us by post, our postal address is 10 Whitehills Business Park, Blackpool, FY4 5LW.
Scope - when this policy applies
This policy applies when you:
Create a candidate profile on the Perch Group Careers Website.
Upload or submit a CV, cover letter or other information to support your application.
Sign up for job alerts or job-match notifications.
Apply for a role advertised on the Careers Website.
Participate in assessments, interviews or candidate screening organised through the Careers Website.
We will only collect and use personal information that is relevant to the recruitment process and to delivering job alerts and related services.
The personal information we collect
The categories of personal data we may collect and process about you include:
Identity and contact data: name, title, address, telephone number, personal email address, date of birth, gender, employment history, qualifications, IP address and other account identifiers.
Profile and application data: CV, cover letter, employment history, education, qualifications, skills, availability, preferred location, desired salary, right-to-work documentation, references, personal statement and other information you include in your profile or application.
Application progress and recruitment data: job roles you apply for, application dates, interview notes, assessment results, background-check information (where applicable and permitted by law), recruiter notes and feedback.
Communications data: your correspondence with us (emails, messages via the Careers Website) and preferences for receiving job alerts or other communications.
Usage and technical data: information about your use of the Careers Website (e.g. pages visited, search terms used), device and browser information and cookies or similar technologies.
Optional extra data: anything you choose to include in an open application, candidate survey, information provided at interview or in response to optional screening questions (including, if provided, sensitive data such as health information or disability details for reasonable adjustments – see the section on special category data below).
We collect this information when you register, create or update a profile, upload documents, apply for vacancies, subscribe to alerts, or otherwise interact with the Careers Website.
We may collect personal information about candidates from the following sources:
• You, the candidate.
• Recruitment agencies.
• Background check providers.
• Credit reference agencies.
• Disclosure and Barring Service in respect of criminal convictions.
• Your named referees.
• When you register, create or update a profile.
• Upload documents.
• Apply for vacancies.
• Subscribe to alerts.
• Or otherwise interact with the Careers Website.
Special category personal data
Some recruitment processes may request special category personal data where this is necessary to provide a reasonable adjustment, monitor equal opportunities or comply with applicable laws. We will only process special category data where we have a lawful basis to do so (see the Lawful basis section), and we will always explain clearly why we need it and how it will be used before you provide it. Providing special category data is optional unless otherwise stated.
• Information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and political opinions.
• Information about your health, including any medical condition, health and sickness records.
• Information about criminal convictions and offences.
How we use your personal information - purposes and lawful bases
We will only use your personal data for recruitment-related purposes. The main purposes and lawful bases are:
To operate and provide the Careers Website and recruitment services (including registering your account, hosting your profile and CV, managing job applications and administering assessments).
Lawful basis: performance of a contract with you (where applicable) and our legitimate interests in hosting and operating the Careers Website and delivering the recruitment service.
To match you with suitable job vacancies and send job alerts tailored to your profile and preferences (including sending email or SMS job notifications).
Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in matching candidates to vacancies and in providing the service you registered for.
To communicate with you about vacancies, applications and recruitment-related matters (including interview arrangements and feedback).
Lawful basis: performance of a contract, or our legitimate interests in managing applications and communicating with candidates.
To share your CV and application information with recruiters, hiring managers and Perch Group hiring teams where you apply for a role or where you have given consent for your profile to be searchable by recruiters.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract (for a specific role) and/or your consent (for searchable profiles); legitimate interests where disclosure is necessary to consider you for vacancies.
For background checks and right-to-work verification where required for recruitment or statutory compliance.
Lawful basis: compliance with legal obligations, and where applicable, legitimate interests.
To operate assessments and scoring tools, and to make recruitment decisions. We may use automated systems to assist with shortlisting or scoring, but human review will form an important part of decision-making (see Automated decision-making section).
Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in efficient recruitment and, where a role requires it, performance of a contract.
For fraud prevention, security, analytics and to improve the Careers Website.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in protecting our services and improving candidate experience.
For marketing (job alerts and similar communications) where you have opted in.
Lawful basis: your consent. You may withdraw consent at any time.
To comply with legal obligations (for example tax, immigration and employment law requirements) and to respond to lawful requests by regulators or law enforcement agencies.
Lawful basis: legal obligation.
Where processing is based on legitimate interests, we will balance those interests against your rights and freedoms and will not carry out processing that would unfairly prejudice you. It is in our legitimate interests to decide whether to appoint you to the role for which you have applied since it would be beneficial to our business to appoint someone to that role. We also need to process your personal information to decide whether to enter into a contract with you.
Having received your CV and/or covering letter and/or your application form, we will then process that information to decide whether you meet the basic requirements to be shortlisted for the role. If you do, we will decide whether your application is strong enough to invite you for an interview. If we decide to call you for an interview, we will use the information you provide to us at the interview to decide whether to offer you the role. If we decide to offer you the role, we may then take up references and/or carry out a criminal record checks before confirming your appointment.
If you fail to provide personal information
If you fail to provide information when requested, which is necessary for us to consider your application (such as evidence of qualifications or work history), we will not be able to process your application successfully. For example, if we require a credit check or references for this role and you fail to provide us with relevant details, we will not be able to take your application further.
How we use particularly sensitive personal information
We will use your particularly sensitive personal information in the following ways:
• We will use information about your disability status to consider whether we need to provide appropriate adjustments during the recruitment process, for example whether adjustments need to be made during an interview.
• We will use information about your race or national or ethnic origin, religious, philosophical or moral beliefs, or your sexual life or sexual orientation, to ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting.
Who we share your data with
We will only share your personal information with the following third parties for the purposes of processing your application: other entities in the group such as our third-party credit and DBS checking service. All our third-party service providers and other entities in the group are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
Perch Group companies and hiring teams: to shortlist and progress applications and to contact you about vacancies.
Recruiters and external hiring managers: when you apply for a role or where you have agreed to make your profile visible to recruiters.
Third-party service providers and processors: such as cloud hosting providers, analytics providers, email and SMS delivery services, applicant tracking systems, assessment and psychometric test providers, background‑check providers and other suppliers that support the Careers Website.
Regulators, government agencies and law enforcement: where required to comply with a legal obligation.
Professional advisers or representatives: for example, where you have given power of attorney or engaged recruitment agents to act on your behalf.
We require third-party processors to operate under written contracts that protect your information and require them to act only on our instructions when processing your personal and/or sensitive data.
Retention - How long we keep your data
We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, taking into account legal, regulatory and operational requirements.
Typical retention periods include:
Active application and recruitment records: We will retain your personal information for a period of 6 months after we have communicated to you our decision about whether to appoint you to the role. (this period may be extended where you have given consent for us to keep your profile for future opportunities).
Candidate profiles retained for job alerts or searchable by recruiters: retained while your account is active and for up to 24 months after last activity if you have opted in to be considered for future roles (unless you withdraw consent earlier).
Records required for legal compliance (e.g. right-to-work, tax, payroll records): retained for the period required by relevant laws.
Marketing consents and unsubscribing: retained to respect your marketing preferences and to demonstrate compliance with communications law.
We retain your personal information for that period so that we can show, in the event of a legal claim, that we have not discriminated against candidates on prohibited grounds and that we have conducted the recruitment exercise in a fair and transparent way. After this period, we will securely destroy your personal information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations unless you have been successful in securing your post, in which case we will retain the documents for as long as is necessary.
Cookies and tracking
We use cookies and similar technologies on the Careers Website to provide core functionality (e.g. maintaining sessions), to remember your preferences, and for analytics and improvement of the service. A separate cookie notice describes the cookies in more detail and explains how to manage your cookie preferences.
Data Security
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need-to-know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so - if you have concerns about the security of your data, please contact us at DPO@perchgroup.co.uk.
Automated decision‑making and profiling
You will not be subject to decisions that will have a significant impact on you based solely on automated decision-making.
We may use automated tools (for example to score applications or match candidates to jobs) to help manage large volumes of applications.
Automated processing may form part of our shortlisting process, but where an automated decision would have a legal or similarly significant effect on you, we will provide information about the logic involved and your rights, and you will have the right to request a human review.
If you have concerns about automated decisions, please contact DPO@perchgroup.co.uk.
Your rights
Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right t:
• Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
• Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
• Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
• Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
• Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
• Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.
If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact us at DPO@perchgroup.co.uk. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.
Right to withdraw consent
You have the right to withdraw your consent for processing of your personal data at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact the HR team. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your application and, subject to our retention policy, we will dispose of your personal data securely.
How to opt-out of job alerts and marketing
You can manage your communication preferences and opt out of job alerts or marketing messages at any time by:
visiting your account settings on careers.perchgroup.co.uk, or
clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email we send, or
emailing DPO@perchgroup.co.uk and asking us to remove you from marketing lists.
Note that even if you opt out of marketing, we may still send you service messages related to your applications and account.
Children
Our Careers Website is not intended for children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe we have collected such data, please contact us at DPO@perchgroup.co.uk and we will take steps to delete it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Effective date" at the top of this page. Significant changes will be communicated through the Careers Website or by direct communication if you are an active candidate.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we process your personal data, please contact us at DPO@perchgroup.co.uk so we can try to resolve your concerns. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office - www.ico.org.uk.
Perch Group Limited - careers.perchgroup.co.uk - www.perchgroup.co.uk
If you would like this policy in another format (for example large print, audio or other accessible format) please contact - DPO@perchgroup.co.uk.