Privacy and cookies

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we need it, and what your rights are. We have tried to write it in plain English. If anything is unclear, email [email protected].

Who we are

Lawton Consulting International Ltd, which also trades as LCI and as Lawton Consulting local, is registered in England and Wales, company number 17438604. Our registered office is 3 Fitzwilliam Road, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, CM0 8GJ. VAT registration number: 529768927. We are the controller of the personal information described here.

What we collect and why

When you talk to the Bee, our website assistant.

We process what you type so the Bee can answer you. If you ask for a call, we also collect the name, email address and company details you give us so that we can arrange it. The Bee asks for your first name so it knows what to call you. Conversations are handled by an AI model supplied by Anthropic. Please do not enter sensitive personal information into the chat. The Bee holds no records about any person or company beyond what you tell it in the conversation.

When you take the AI Readiness Scorecard.

If you choose to take the scorecard in the Bee, we record your answers, your score, your first name and your email address so that we can send you your personalised report. We store this in our customer relationship system (Twenty, which we host ourselves) and use it to follow up about your result. We rely on our legitimate interests for that follow-up, and you can object at any time. We send occasional practical notes only if you say yes when the Bee asks. Everything you type to the Bee, including your answers, name and email address, is processed by the same AI model as the rest of your conversation. We send your report through Brevo, our email delivery provider, which records whether the message is opened. You can unsubscribe from any email we send, and you can ask us to see or delete your scorecard data at any time by emailing [email protected]. We keep scorecard records for up to 24 months after your last contact with us, then delete them.

When you email, call or meet us.

We keep the correspondence and any notes needed to respond to you and, if we work together, to deliver our services.

When you visit the website.

Every visitor sees the same UK version of the site. We do not use your location to change what you see. If you accept analytics cookies, we also use Google Analytics to understand, in aggregate, how the site is used. As part of that, Google Analytics works out your approximate location, such as your country or town, from your IP address. We only see this in aggregate, and Google Analytics does not store your IP address.

When we contact you about our services.

We may contact people in relevant roles at UK companies that we believe could benefit from what we do. We obtain business contact details from public sources such as Companies House and corporate websites, from professional networks such as LinkedIn, and from commercial data providers. We only use business contact details, we always say who we are, and every message tells you how to opt out. If you ask us to stop, we will, and we keep a minimal record of your request so that we do not contact you again by mistake.

Our legal bases

• Legitimate interests: answering enquiries, running and improving the website, and contacting business people about relevant services. You can object at any time.
• Contract: where we need information to provide services you have asked for.
• Legal obligation: for example, keeping accounting records.
• Consent: where the law requires it. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information. We use a small number of service providers who process information on our behalf: Google (email, calendar and site analytics), Cloudflare (content delivery and security), Anthropic (the AI model behind the Bee), Apollo (business contact data and outreach), Brevo (sending our mailings) and our telephone provider. Some of these providers process information outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on the safeguards UK law recognises, such as adequacy decisions or approved contractual clauses.

How a client's own data is handled during a project is agreed in writing before any work starts, and nothing leaves their systems without approval.

How long we keep it

• Conversations with the Bee: up to 12 months.
• AI Readiness Scorecard records: up to 24 months after our last contact with you.
• Enquiries and correspondence: up to 2 years after our last contact, or longer where we have worked together and need records for legal or accounting reasons.
• Business contact details used for outreach: until you ask us to stop, or 2 years without any engagement, whichever comes first.
• Requests not to be contacted: kept for as long as needed to honour them.

Your rights

You have the right to ask for a copy of your information, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to have it transferred. To use any of these rights, or to stop all contact from us, email [email protected]. We will respond within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when what we do changes. The date at the top shows the latest version.