Privacy Policy

Who we are

HeavyShift is a UK directory of specialist haulage operators, operated by Heavy Shift Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17344142), whose registered office is 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ. ICO registration number ZC200445. In this policy “we”, “us” and “HeavyShift” mean Heavy Shift Ltd, who is the data controller for the personal data described here.

For any privacy question or to exercise your rights, contact hello@heavyshift.co.uk.

The personal data we collect

Operator listings: business name, business address, business phone number, business email, website, service areas, vehicle types, and publicly published Google rating and review counts. For sole traders and partnerships, some of this may be personal data.

Claimed operator accounts: the email address used to claim and sign in, and any content the operator chooses to add — description, fleet details, photos, and (for verification) an operator’s licence and insurance certificate.

Buyers: when you request a quote or send an enquiry, we collect your name, email, phone number (if given), the job details you describe, and collection/delivery postcodes.

Payments: Premium subscriptions are handled by Stripe. We do not see or store your card details; we store only a Stripe customer/subscription reference and subscription status.

All visitors: we record aggregate profile-view counts using a first-party cookie that holds only a random identifier, which is hashed before storage and contains no personal information. If you consent, we also use Google Analytics (see “Cookies and analytics”).

Where operator information comes from

Much of the initial listing information is not collected from the operator directly. It is compiled from publicly available sources such as public business listings and directories. We rely on our legitimate interest in maintaining a comprehensive, useful directory of specialist haulage operators.

If you are an operator and you would like your listing corrected, hidden, or removed, you can use the “Remove this listing” link on your profile, or email hello@heavyshift.co.uk, and we will action it. You can object to this processing at any time.

Our lawful bases

Legitimate interests: operating and improving the directory, compiling and displaying operator listings, and producing aggregate view counts. We have balanced these interests against your rights and provide an easy way to object or be removed.

Contract: creating and managing operator accounts, delivering enquiries to Premium operators, and providing paid subscriptions.

Consent: setting optional analytics cookies (Google Analytics) and sending any marketing communications. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Legal obligation: keeping records we are legally required to keep, such as for tax.

How we use your information

To run the directory and show listings; to let buyers find operators; to deliver enquiries and quote requests to operators; to show operators how many times their profile was viewed; to operate claims, verification and Premium subscriptions; to keep the service secure and prevent abuse; and to respond to your requests. We do not sell your personal data.

Cookies and analytics

Essential/functional: we set one first-party cookie (“hs_session”) on operator profile pages. It stores only a random identifier, lasts 24 hours, is HttpOnly, and is hashed before it is used to de-duplicate view counts. It does not identify you and is not used for advertising or cross-site tracking.

Analytics (optional): with your consent we load Google Analytics to understand how the site is used. These cookies are only set if you accept them in the cookie banner, and you can decline or change your choice at any time. Google Analytics involves a transfer of data to Google.

Who we share it with

We use trusted providers who process data only on our instructions: Supabase (database, authentication and file storage), Stripe (subscription payments), Resend (transactional email), Vercel (hosting), and, with your consent, Google Analytics.

Some of these providers are based in, or process data in, the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, it is protected by an appropriate safeguard such as UK adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

We may also disclose information where required by law, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

How long we keep it

Listings are kept for as long as they are part of the directory or until removal is requested. Enquiries and quote requests are kept for a limited period so operators can respond and for our records. Account and billing records are kept for as long as the account is active and for any period required by law. We delete or anonymise data when it is no longer needed.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access your data; to have it corrected; to have it erased; to restrict or object to processing (including our legitimate-interest processing of listings); to data portability; and, where processing is based on consent, to withdraw that consent.

To exercise any of these, email hello@heavyshift.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk, though we’d appreciate the chance to resolve it with you first.

How we keep it secure

Access to personal data is restricted and protected by database-level security rules. Contact details on free listings are never exposed publicly. Payment card data is handled entirely by Stripe and never reaches our systems. We apply security headers and rate limiting to reduce abuse.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date above shows when it last changed.

Contact

Questions or requests about your data: hello@heavyshift.co.uk.