Clear information for candidates.

Who is responsible for your information

Piece by Piece HR & Recruitment Consultancy is the trading name of Andrew Metcalf, sole trader. You can contact me at andrew@piecebypiecehr.co.uk or 07764 746952.

Correspondence address: Andrew Metcalf trading as Piece by Piece HR & Recruitment Consultancy, c/o Spotlight Hair & Beauty, 723 Abbeydale Road, Sheffield S7 2BE, United Kingdom. Postal enquiries only; please do not send CVs, identification, medical records or other confidential documents here without discussing secure delivery with me first.

In typical permanent recruitment work, I may act as a controller for recruitment records I manage independently, while a hiring employer is a separate controller for its own recruitment decisions. Some arrangements may require a different or additional allocation of responsibilities, which should be explained when relevant.

Information I may collect

Depending on the vacancy and stage, candidate data can include name, contact details, location, CV, employment history, career interests, qualifications, salary expectations, availability, interview notes, communications, referrals and suitability assessments.

Further information such as references, evidence of qualifications, eligibility to work or employment checks will only be requested where appropriate to the role and at the appropriate stage. Health, disability, equality-monitoring or criminal-record information requires additional protections and will not be requested through the website's general enquiry form.

How information is obtained

Data can come directly from you, your CV or application, a professional introduction, a relevant recruitment platform or publicly available professional profile, or from an employer where appropriate. Where I obtain details from another source, I will provide the applicable privacy information in line with legal requirements.

Why I process candidate data

I may use candidate information to discuss relevant vacancies with you, assess job-related suitability, communicate about applications and interviews, introduce candidates to an agreed hiring organisation, verify appropriate qualifications or references, keep recruitment records, and respond to requests or legal claims.

Usual UK GDPR lawful bases may include legitimate interests in providing recruitment services and matching candidates with roles, steps taken at your request before entering an arrangement where relevant, and legal obligations. For sensitive information or criminal-conviction information, an additional lawful condition and safeguards are needed.

I do not charge jobseekers for finding them permanent work.

When a CV is shared with an employer

Before sharing identifiable candidate information with a hiring organisation, I aim to explain the opportunity, the recipient and what information will be shared, except where a different lawful approach is justified and explained. Candidate details will not knowingly be circulated indiscriminately.

Hiring employers have their own responsibilities as controllers and should provide relevant privacy information about how they use applications, conduct assessments and carry out checks.

Checks, references and sensitive information

I will normally seek checks and references only when relevant and appropriate to the recruitment stage. Any pre-employment vetting must be proportionate, transparent and compliant with relevant legal rules. Right-to-work checks and any DBS or sector-specific screening arrangements must be allocated clearly to the employer or other responsible party.

Special-category information and criminal-offence information are treated separately from routine CV data and will only be used when there is a suitable Article 9 condition or applicable DPA 2018 condition, as relevant.

Retention and future vacancies

Candidate information is retained only as long as necessary for recruitment and any legitimate record-keeping or dispute purposes. As a starting policy, records relating to a completed vacancy are ordinarily reviewed for deletion around six months after the recruitment decision, unless a different period is justified and explained.

If you would like me to consider you for future vacancies, this should be discussed separately, with clear information about how long the details will remain on file and an easy way to opt out. A starting point is to review or renew such arrangements at least every 12 months; this does not mean every applicant will automatically be added to a talent pool.

Processors, sharing and transfers

I may use Zoho Mail and appropriate secure technical systems in my recruitment workflow. Information may be shared with the employer considering your candidacy, authorised screening providers if justified, professional advisers and public authorities where legally required. Overseas transfers, if any, must comply with the applicable UK transfer rules.

For greater detail about website hosting and business administration, see the general Privacy Notice.

Automated decisions and fairness

I do not advertise a service that makes solely automated hiring decisions. Where automated tools are introduced into recruitment, their use, safeguards, fairness and any applicable rights will need to be considered and disclosed before deployment. I aim to support objective and job-related recruitment assessments.

Your rights and complaints

You may have rights to access, correct, erase, restrict or object to processing of your data, depending on the circumstances. Contact andrew@piecebypiecehr.co.uk with any request or concern.

For a concern about how I handle your data, see the Data Protection Complaints Procedure. You can also complain to the ICO.