Privacy Policy

Last updated: 22 October 2026

1. Who we are

M.H. Inspection Ltd is responsible for the personal information described in this policy. We provide coating inspection, testing and technical consultancy services and operate mhinspection.co.uk.

For privacy questions or requests, email michael.h@mhinspection.com, call 0191 369 2466, or write to M.H. Inspection Ltd, The Work Place, Heighington Lane, Aycliffe Business Park, Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham, DL5 6AH.

2. Information we collect

Enquiries: your name, email address, optional callback number and the project or message details you provide through our forms, by email or by telephone. Our website forms require an email address and message; you can leave the phone field blank.
Project communications: information needed to discuss your requirements, prepare a quotation, arrange work and maintain relevant service records. This may include business contact details and site information supplied by you or your organisation.
Website information: technical information such as IP address, browser, device, page and referral information, consent choices, and security or error logs.
Measurement information: where you permit the relevant tools, page visits, advertising identifiers, successful enquiry events and telephone or email link clicks. Call reporting may also include the calling number where available, call time, duration and whether the call connected.

Please provide only information relevant to your enquiry. Do not include sensitive personal information or personal details about other people unless needed for the project and you are entitled to provide them.

3. Why we use information and our lawful bases

Responding to individual enquiries and arranging services: taking steps at your request before entering a contract, and performing our contract with you where applicable.
Handling business enquiries and relationships: our legitimate interests in responding to business contacts, assessing project requirements and providing our inspection and consultancy services.
Operating and protecting the website: our legitimate interests in keeping the site reliable, preventing misuse, investigating technical problems and maintaining appropriate enquiry records.
Optional statistics and advertising measurement: your consent, as selected through the website’s consent controls.
Required business records and legal matters: applicable legal obligations, and our legitimate interests in dealing with complaints, maintaining evidence and establishing or defending legal claims.

Providing an enquiry does not subscribe you to a newsletter. If we propose another use of your information, we will explain it and obtain consent where required.

4. Contact forms and saved enquiries

Website enquiries are sent by email to M.H. Inspection’s designated recipients. A copy is also sent to 4mplify, which supports our website and marketing, so it can assist with delivery, administration and enquiry measurement. We keep a private copy in our website enquiry archive, accessible to authorised administrators, to help prevent enquiries being lost and support follow-up.

Our configured analytics and advertising events record that an enquiry succeeded; they do not contain the name, email, phone number or message entered in the form. We do not put submitted form information into public page URLs.

5. Cookies, analytics and advertising

Essential website functions and security operate independently of optional tracking. You can use the enquiry forms and contact us without accepting statistics or marketing tools. See our Cookie Policy (UK) for cookie information and consent controls.

Google Analytics: used with statistics permission to understand website use and measure interactions, including successful enquiries.
Ahrefs Analytics: used with statistics permission to report visits and interactions. Ahrefs describes this service as cookie-free, using daily pseudonymous visitor identifiers, device and referral information and approximate location rather than tracking a visitor across days.
Google Ads: used with marketing permission to measure advertising activity and enquiries, including eligible calls through Google’s forwarding numbers.
Meta Pixel: used with marketing permission to measure visits and events such as successful enquiries and contact-link clicks. Meta may associate these events with information it holds under its own privacy policy.
Google Tag Manager and Complianz: used to manage the website’s tags and apply your consent preferences.

You can accept, reject or change optional categories through “Manage consent” or the controls on the cookie-policy page. Withdrawing consent affects subsequent optional tracking; it does not make earlier processing unlawful. Browser restrictions and consent choices can limit measurement.

6. Telephone enquiries

We use Google call reporting to understand which advertising leads to telephone enquiries. An eligible visitor or caller may see a Google forwarding number which routes the call to our usual business line. Reporting can include call time, duration, connection status, calling number where available and the related advertising activity. A measured call is not treated as proof that work was booked.

We do not record telephone conversations. Call reporting measures the call details described above, rather than the content of the conversation.

7. Who receives information

Access is limited to people and organisations who need the information for the purposes above. These may include M.H. Inspection personnel, 4mplify as our website and marketing support provider, SiteGround as our hosting provider, our email and IT service providers, and Google, Meta and Ahrefs for the tools described above. Professional advisers or public authorities may receive information where necessary for advice, legal obligations or the protection of legal rights.

We do not currently sell website enquiries to other inspection businesses. Any future referral arrangement involving personal information would need to be explained to you before the information is shared and supported by an appropriate lawful basis.

8. International processing

Some of the technology providers above operate internationally and may process information outside the UK. Their privacy information explains their processing locations and protections:

International processing can include the United States and other countries where a provider or its support services operate. The providers describe their transfer arrangements in their privacy information and data-processing terms. Depending on the provider and transfer, these include recognised adequacy arrangements, such as the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for participating recipients, or contractual safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses with the relevant UK addendum. These arrangements differ by service; the use of a provider does not mean that every transfer relies on the same mechanism.

Further details are available in Google’s data-transfer information, Meta’s privacy information and Ahrefs’ privacy information. Contact us if you would like information about the safeguards relevant to your personal information.

9. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purpose for which it was collected. Our normal retention periods are:

Unsuccessful enquiries and quotations: 12 months after the last meaningful contact, after which we review the record for deletion or anonymisation. We may keep it longer if discussions remain active or a complaint, claim or other documented need justifies retention.
Completed project records: normally six years after completion for ordinary projects. Longer periods may apply where required by the contract, professional-indemnity insurance, safety-record requirements or law. Inspection reports and safety-related evidence are reviewed against those requirements rather than automatically deleted at six years.
Accounting records: at least six years from the end of the company financial year they relate to, with longer retention where required.

These periods apply to relevant enquiry and project information, including private website copies and email copies held by us and our authorised support providers. We review whether the information remains necessary and delete or anonymise it when there is no longer a justified reason to retain it.

Technical logs and measurement records are subject to the relevant system settings and operational need. Backup copies may remain until replaced through the provider’s normal backup cycle; they are not used as an active enquiry list. Information needed for a complaint, legal claim or legal obligation may be retained until that need has ended.

10. Your choices and rights

Depending on the circumstances and lawful basis, you may ask for access to your information, correction, deletion, restricted use or a portable copy. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests, including relevant profiling, and may object to direct marketing at any time. Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it.

Contact us using the details in section 1. We may need to verify your identity before dealing with a request. Some rights have exceptions, including where records must be retained to meet a legal obligation or establish or defend legal claims.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator.

11. Automated decisions and external websites

Website advertising tools help report and optimise advertising activity. We do not use the website enquiry process to make solely automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects. Other websites linked from this site have their own privacy policies.

12. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when our activities or website tools change. The date at the top will identify the current version.