Privacy and Cookies Policy

Meridian MMI is committed to protecting the privacy of our Candidates, Clients, Suppliers and Visitors to our Website. We process your personal information to meet our legal, statutory and contractual obligations and to provide you with our recruitment services.

  1. Purpose of this Privacy Policy

Meridian MMI is the trading name of Management And Marketing Initiatives Limited, registered in England and Wales with Company No. 02815230. Our registered office is: Hedge House, Hangersley Hill, Hangersley, Ringwood, Hampshire, England, BH24 3JW.

We are registered on the Information Commissioner’s Office Register of Data Controllers under registration number A8318435. For the purpose of the Data Protection Legislation and this Privacy Policy, we are the “data controller”.

This Privacy Policy describes how Meridian MMI (‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘our’) gathers and processes personal data collected via www.meridianmmi.com (“Website”) or received via other electronic and non-electronic means in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the Data Protection Act 2018 (once enacted) and any other data protection and privacy laws and regulations applicable to us or to our processing of your personal information (“Data Protection Legislation”).

This Privacy Policy describes how we may collect and process information about any data subjects including:

  • Our clients and other people who use our services, including the employees of any clients (together, “Clients”);
  • Applicants for roles advertised or promoted by us; as well as people who have supplied a speculative CV to us not in relation to a specific job (“Candidates”);
  • Our suppliers and service providers and their agents, employees and representatives (“Suppliers”); and
  • Visitors to our Website (“Visitors”).

Paragraphs 2 – 5 of this Privacy Policy contain specific information for different categories of data subjects. The other paragraphs of this policy contain information relevant to all data subjects including the data subjects rights described in paragraph 8 of this Policy.

We use cookies on our Website and this is explained in paragraph 10 of this Policy. 

2. How We May Collect or Receive Personal Data from You

All Data Subjects

Meridian MMI may collect or receive your personal data about you when you contact us by email, telephone, post or social media or complete any other form, polls or surveys on our Website, by email or as otherwise submitted to us.

Visitors

We will only collect personal data via our Website, apart from your IP address and cookie data, when you contact us to request further information about our services. On various occasions, including through forms on our Website, we may invite or request you to submit your contact details and other information about yourself or your organisation, or to send us emails, each of which will identify you.

Clients and Suppliers

If you are a Client or a Supplier then we will collect and process information about you: (i) when you request a proposal from us in relation to our services; (ii) when you or your employer or other relevant organisation engages us to provide our services (or visaversa, if you are a Supplier); and (iii) during the course of the provision of those services.

Candidates

If you are a Candidate then we will collect and process information about you (i) when you provide your CV to us via Meridian MMI email addresses or via LinkedIn; and (ii) during the course of our relationship to assist you in finding a role. 

Whether you come to us or we approach you, you can submit your CV/Résumé to us electronically, via email, LinkedIn, or otherwise providing us with a digital copy, or by providing your CV to one of our consultants.

You can do this either to apply for a specific advertised job, or to request that we keep your details for consideration of future roles. You can provide us with an updated copy of your CV at any time via the available channels indicated above.

3. The Types of Personal Data We May Collect 

All Data Subjects including Visitors

The information we hold about you may include the following:

  • your personal details (such as your name, address and other contact details);
  • details of any contacts we have had with you in relation to the provision, or the proposed provision, of our services (or your services, if you are a Supplier);
  • details of any services you have received from us or we have received from you (as applicable);
  • our correspondence and communications with you;
  • information about any complaints and enquiries you may have submitted to us;
  • information from any research or surveys conducted by us in which you may have participated (if any);
  • information from any marketing activities to which you may have responded or in which you may have participated;
  • information we receive from other sources, such as publicly available information, and information provided by your employer or other relevant organisation; and
  • information regarding your website usage, IP-address, browser type and operating system.

You may also voluntarily provide other data that is related to you in connection with your inquiries or comments. We encourage you, however, to provide no more personal data relating to you than is necessary in order for us to provide an appropriate response to your inquiries or comments.

Clients and Suppliers

If you are a Client or a Supplier then we may collect and process additional information about you (as applicable) relevant to: (i) your request for a proposal from us in relation to our services; (ii) your engagement of us, or our engagement of you, to provide the services; (iii) the provision of our services (or visa-versa if you are a Supplier); and/or (iv) the management and administration of the relationship between us; which will be as described in the engagement terms between us.

Candidates

If you are a Candidate, then we may collect and process the following information about you: 

  • the information you have provided to us in your CV and any covering letters;
  • your date of birth;
  • your Skype address;
  • your social media handles;
  • where applicable, your work permit, passport and/or other any other documentation required for work in the relevant country to which your application relates;
  • where necessary, work and/or personal character references;
  • to the extent that it is not included in your CV: your education history and your employment history; and
  • any other information you provide to us the course of our relationship with you.

We may also collect, store and use the following “special categories” of more sensitive personal information:

    • information about your health, including any medical conditions; and
    • where applicable to a role for which you have applied, or for which you wish to be considered, information about criminal convictions and offences, such as through DBS checks.

4. How We Use Your Personal Data

Clients and Suppliers

If you are a Client or a Supplier then we will use your personal information for purposes additional to the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy including in relation to the provision of our services (or your services, if you are a Supplier) and the management and administration of the relationship between us; which will be as described in the engagement terms between us.

Candidates

We will use the personal information we collect about you to:

  • Assess your skills and suitability for any roles, for which you have agreed to be considered or which we think you may otherwise be suitable for;
  • Communicate with you;
  • Keep records related to any relevant roles for which you have been considered; and
  • Comply with legal or regulatory requirements.

However, you can request that your details are removed from our database at any time. 

All Data Subjects

Meridian MMI takes your privacy very seriously and will only process your personal data in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

We may process your personal data for purposes necessary for the performance of our contract with you, or for steps preparatory to entering into a contract with you, and to comply with our legal obligations.

We may process your personal data for the purposes of our own legitimate interests provided that those interests do not override any of your own interests, rights and freedoms which require the protection of your personal data. This includes processing for marketing, business development, statistical and management purposes.

We may process your personal data for certain additional purposes with your consent, and in these limited circumstances where your consent is required for the processing of your personal data then (i) we will request such consent from you separately, and (ii) you have the right to withdraw your consent to processing for such specific purposes.

Please note that we may process your personal data on more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data.

Situations in which we will use your personal information

We may use your information in order to:

  • carry out our obligations arising from any agreements entered into between you or your employer or other relevant organisation and us (which will most usually be our engagement for the provision of our services or your services, as applicable);
  • provide you with information related to our services and our events and activities that you request from us or which we feel may interest you, provided you have consented to be contacted for such purposes;
  • seek your thoughts and opinions on the services we provide; and
  • notify you about any changes to our services.

In some circumstances we may anonymise or pseudonymise the personal data so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you.

If you refuse to provide us with certain information when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have entered into with you. Alternatively, we may be unable to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations.

We may also process your personal information without your knowledge or consent, in accordance with this notice, where we are legally required or permitted to do so.

Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it is collected.

When assessing what retention period is appropriate for your personal data, we take into consideration:

  • the requirements of our business and the services provided;
  • the purposes for which we originally collected the personal data;
  • the lawful grounds on which we based our processing;
  • the types of personal data we have collected;
  • the amount and categories of your personal data; and
  • whether the purpose of the processing could reasonably be fulfilled by other means.

Change of purpose

Where we need to use your personal data for another reason, other than for the purpose for which we collected it, we will only use your personal information where that reason is compatible with the original purpose.

Should it be necessary to use your personal data for a new purpose, we will notify you and communicate the legal basis which allows us to do so before starting any new processing.

5. Data Sharing

Candidates

CVs and summary contact details are stored on our database, which is accessible by Meridian MMI in the UK only. Candidate CVs and contact details are passed to our European recruitment partners and/or companies searching for candidates only with your express permission, on a role by role basis.

All Data Subjects

We use your data to fulfil our service obligations, matching suitable candidates with employment opportunities, and to maintain our business relationships with clients and candidates.

Why might you share my personal information with third parties?

We will share your personal information with third parties where we are required by law, where it is necessary to administer the relationship between us or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.

Which third-party service providers process my personal information?

“Third parties” includes third-party service providers and other entities within our group. The following activities are carried out by third-party service providers: IT and cloud services, professional advisory services, administration services, marketing services, email services and banking services.

All of our third-party service providers are required to take commercially reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect your personal information. We only permit our third-party service providers to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

What about other third parties?

We may share your personal information with other third parties, for example in the context of the possible sale or restructuring of the business. We may also need to share your personal information with a regulator or to otherwise comply with the law.

  1. TRANSFERRING INFORMATION OUTSIDE THE EU

We will not ordinarily transfer the personal information we collect about you outside of the EEA. However, if any third parties by whom your personal data are to be processed are based outside the EEA so that their processing of your personal data will involve a transfer of data outside the EEA we will ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring that at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

  • We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission.
  • Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in the EEA.
  • Where the third parties are based in the US, we may either use the above contracts approved by the European Commission or we may transfer data to them if they are part of the EU–U.S. Privacy Shield which requires them to provide similar protection to personal data shared between the EEA and the US.

Please contact us using the contact details below, if you want further information on the specific mechanism to be used by us if we are to transfer your personal data outside of the EEA.

7. Data Security

We have put in place commercially reasonable and 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.

8. Your Rights

Your duty to inform us of changes

It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Should your personal information change, please notify us of any changes of which we need to be made aware by contacting us, using the contact details below.

Your rights in connection with personal information

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal information. This enables you to receive details of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are processing it lawfully.
  • Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you.
  • 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 particular 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 exercise any of the above rights, please email: chris.fenna@meridianmmi.com.

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before acting on any request to access or update your details (or any other requests), to ensure that your data is protected and kept secure.

9. Right to Withdraw Consent  

In the limited circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose (for example, in relation to direct marketing, such as information about jobs or industry specific information, that you have indicated you would like to receive from us); you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please email: chris.fenna@meridianmmi.com or, where applicable, you can use the available opt-out/unsubscribe options.

Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.

10. Use of Cookies

We may use cookies or similar technologies that collect certain Website usage information when you access, view and use the Website. A cookie is a data file placed on a computer or mobile device when it is used to visit websites.

We do not enable third parties to place cookies on your device. The table below provides an overview of the cookies we may use and why we use them.

The following cookies are not essential for our website to function and are generally used to provide, maintain and improve our services:

Cookie Name – Google Analytics

Purpose – These cookies are used in order to collect information about the visitors’ use of our websites. All data collected via these cookies is anonymous and not user specific. Information includes the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come from and which pages they have viewed.

By using our website, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device. You may disable cookies in your browser’s settings (e.g., under the “Preferences” or “Internet Options” features of your browser).  Note, however, that some features of the Website may not function properly if you disable the use of cookies. For detailed information on how to manage or delete cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

11. Changes to this Policy

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this webpage. This policy was last updated on 23 May 2018.

12. Contacting Us

Meridian MMI only processes your personal information in compliance with this Privacy Notice and in accordance with the Data Protection Legislation. Should you wish to access the data we hold about you in accordance with your rights, or to make a complaint, please contact our Compliance Officer post: FAO Compliance Officer, Meridian MMI 8 Upper Golf Links Road, Broadstone, Dorset, BH18 8BU, United Kingdom; phone: +44 (0) 1202 699565; and/or by email: chris.fenna@meridianmmi.com.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO: www.ico.org.uk), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues, at any time.