Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy explains how Nationwide Energy Consultants Utilities Ltd collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when providing our services.

We are committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and other applicable data protection laws.

1. Who We Are

Nationwide Energy Consultants Utilities Ltd, also referred to in this policy as “Nationwide Energy”, “NEC”, “we”, “us” or “our”, is a UK-based business utility consultancy and brokerage.

We assist business customers with electricity, gas, water, merchant services, telecoms and related services. This may include obtaining prices, arranging new contracts, assisting with renewals, supporting change of tenancy matters, helping with supplier queries, reviewing billing issues and liaising with suppliers on behalf of customers.

2. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal information is:

For data protection enquiries, please contact us using the email address above.

3. Personal Information We Collect

The personal information we collect may include:

• Name.
• Job title or role.
• Business name.
• Business address.
• Site address or supply address.
• Telephone number.
• Mobile number.
• Email address.
• Meter details, including MPAN, MPRN or supply numbers.
• Utility account details.
• Supplier details.
• Contract information.
• Consumption information.
• Billing information.
• Correspondence between you, us, suppliers or third parties.
• Information provided in Letters of Authority.
• Information needed to process a change of tenancy or contract transfer.
• Payment or account information where relevant to the service being provided.
• Website enquiry information.
• Marketing preferences.

Most of the information we collect relates to business customers and business contacts. However, this may still include personal data, particularly where an individual is a sole trader, partner, director, landlord, tenant, employee, pub operator or named contact at a business.

4. How We Collect Personal Information

We may collect personal information directly from you when you:

• Contact us by phone, email, post, website form or social media.
• Ask us to provide quotes or pricing.
• Sign a Letter of Authority.
• Ask us to arrange, renew or review a contract.
• Provide meter, billing or supplier information.
• Ask us to deal with a supplier, complaint, billing issue or metering query.
• Attend a meeting, event or business discussion with us.
• Subscribe to marketing or energy updates.

We may also collect information from third parties, including:

• Energy suppliers.
• Water suppliers.
• Telecoms providers.
• Merchant services providers.
• Meter operators.
• Data collectors and data aggregators.
• Distribution Network Operators.
• Introducers or referral partners.
• Pub companies, breweries, landlords or managing agents.
• Publicly available sources, such as Companies House, business websites or online directories.
• Existing customers who refer your business to us.

5. Why We Use Personal Information

We use personal information for the following purposes:

• To provide our services.
• To identify customers, sites and supply points.
• To obtain quotes and contract pricing.
• To arrange new contracts, renewals or transfers.
• To assist with change of tenancy matters.
• To liaise with suppliers and third parties on your behalf.
• To review bills, consumption and account information.
• To help resolve billing, metering, supply or supplier issues.
• To provide energy advice and customer support.
• To manage customer accounts and business relationships.
• To respond to enquiries and service requests.
• To send service updates, market updates or relevant business communications.
• To meet our legal, regulatory and accounting obligations.
• To improve our services and internal processes.
• To keep appropriate records of customer instructions, contracts and communications.
• To protect our business, customers and legal rights.

6. Lawful Basis for Using Personal Information

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using personal information. The ICO guidance confirms that organisations should explain which lawful basis applies to each purpose of processing.

We may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We may use personal information where it is necessary to provide services under a contract, or to take steps before entering into a contract. This may include arranging utility contracts, obtaining quotes, dealing with renewals, managing supplier queries and providing customer support.

Legitimate Interests

We may use personal information where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. The ICO explains that legitimate interests requires organisations to consider the purpose, necessity and balance of the processing.

Our legitimate interests may include:

• Providing and improving our services.
• Managing customer and supplier relationships.
• Helping customers obtain suitable utility and related service contracts.
• Supporting customers with billing, metering and supplier issues.
• Keeping business records.
• Sending relevant business-to-business communications.
• Protecting our business from fraud, disputes or legal claims.

Legal Obligation

We may use personal information where necessary to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting, tax, audit, regulatory or legal record-keeping requirements.

Consent

In some cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you have specifically opted in to certain marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

7. Letters of Authority

Where you sign a Letter of Authority, this allows us to contact suppliers and relevant third parties on your behalf.

This may involve us accessing, requesting or sharing information relating to your utility accounts, meters, contracts, consumption, billing, supply status and related matters.

We will only use a Letter of Authority for legitimate business purposes connected with the services we are providing.

8. Who We Share Personal Information With

We may share personal information where necessary with:

• Energy suppliers.
• Water suppliers.
• Telecoms providers.
• Merchant services providers.
• Meter operators.
• Data collectors and data aggregators.
• Distribution Network Operators.
• Industry settlement or registration bodies.
• Credit reference or identity verification providers, where required by a supplier or service provider.
• Professional advisers, including accountants, solicitors, insurers and auditors.
• IT, CRM, email, document storage and system providers.
• Introducers, referral partners or commercial partners, where relevant to the service.
• Pub companies, breweries, landlords, managing agents or other authorised parties involved in a customer relationship.
• Regulators, ombudsman services, courts, law enforcement or public authorities where required.

We will only share personal information where there is a lawful reason to do so and where it is necessary for the service being provided, for legal compliance, or for legitimate business purposes.

9. Marketing and Energy Updates

We may send business customers and business contacts relevant updates about energy markets, supplier matters, utility services, contract renewals, billing support or other services that may be of interest.

You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by contacting us using the details in this policy or by using any unsubscribe option included in our communications.

We will not sell your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

10. How We Protect Personal Information

We take appropriate steps to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, disclosure, alteration or destruction.

These steps may include:

• Access controls.
• Password protection.
• Secure systems and storage.
• Staff awareness and internal procedures.
• Limiting access to those who need the information.
• Keeping records only for as long as necessary.
• Using reputable IT and service providers.

No system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we take reasonable and proportionate steps to protect the information we hold.

11. Where Personal Information Is Processed

Personal information is mainly processed in the United Kingdom at our operating offices and through our business systems.

Where we use third-party IT, email, CRM, cloud storage or software providers, personal information may be processed on secure systems operated by those providers. If any personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

12. How Long We Keep Personal Information

We only keep personal information for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

How long we keep information may depend on:

• The type of service provided.
• The length of the customer relationship.
• Contract renewal cycles.
• Supplier or industry requirements.
• Accounting, tax and audit obligations.
• Legal limitation periods.
• The need to resolve disputes or defend claims.
• Whether there are ongoing billing, metering, supply or complaint matters.

In general, customer and contract records may be kept for up to six years after the end of the customer relationship or contract period, unless a longer period is required for legal, regulatory, accounting or dispute-related reasons.

Where information is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise or archive it.

13. Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have rights in relation to your personal information. These may include:

• The right to be informed about how your personal information is used.
• The right of access to your personal information.
• The right to rectification if information is inaccurate or incomplete.
• The right to erasure in certain circumstances.
• The right to restrict processing in certain circumstances.
• The right to object to processing in certain circumstances.
• The right to data portability in certain circumstances.
• The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
• Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling, where applicable.

Not all rights apply in every situation. This may depend on the lawful basis for processing and the reason we hold the information.

If you make a request, we will usually respond within one month.

14. Complaints

If you have any concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter.

You can contact us at:

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the UK regulator for data protection matters. The ICO says privacy notices should tell people how they can complain if they have concerns about how their information is being used.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business, services, legal requirements or data protection practices.

The latest version will be made available on our website or provided on request.