GWS Accounts Limited
Privacy policy
Last updated: 22 October 2026.
Who we are
GWS Accounts Limited, company number 05438748, trades as GWS Accounts LTD. This notice explains how we use personal information when you contact us or use our accounting, bookkeeping, tax, payroll and related services.
For privacy enquiries, email office@gwsaccounts.co.uk, telephone 01472 488 020, or write to GWS Accounts, 97 Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, DN35 7DD.
GWS is supervised by ACCA for anti-money-laundering purposes.
Our role
We are responsible for deciding how information is used for our own client administration, professional work and legal obligations. For some services, such as processing payroll on an employer’s instructions, we may act as a data processor for that employer. In that case we process information on the employer’s documented instructions, and the employer’s privacy information and our contractual arrangements also apply. Please contact your employer first about its use of your payroll information.
Information we collect
The information we need depends on the services we provide. It can include:
- Names, addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and National Insurance numbers.
- Tax identifiers, income, expenditure, bank and financial information, business records and tax returns.
- Information about directors, company officers, business contacts and employees where relevant to our work.
- Payroll details, pay, deductions, pension contributions and other information needed to administer payroll.
- Identity documents, evidence of address and records of identity and anti-money-laundering checks.
- Enquiries, correspondence, service instructions, engagement information and payment records.
For payroll, we record sickness absence dates where needed to calculate pay and statutory entitlements. We do not request details of the illness or medical diagnoses, and we do not process trade-union deductions.
Where information comes from
We collect information when you enquire about our services, engage us, give us instructions or supply records. Depending on the service, we may also receive information from the business or employer that engages us, its authorised representatives, previous accountants, HMRC, Companies House or pension providers, where applicable to the engagement.
Why we use information and our lawful bases
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Discussing and providing services you personally request, and administering our engagement with you. | Taking steps at your request before a contract, and performing our contract with you. |
| Providing services to a company or employer and communicating with its directors, staff and representatives. | Our legitimate interests in delivering and administering the business services we have been engaged to provide, where we act as controller. |
| Carrying out required identity, anti-money-laundering and regulatory checks, and making legally required reports or disclosures. | Compliance with our legal obligations. |
| Maintaining business records, collecting fees, protecting our systems and handling queries, complaints and legal claims. | Our legitimate interests in running and protecting the practice; legal obligations where a specific law requires retention or disclosure. |
If we rely on consent for a particular use, we will explain that use when asking for consent. You may withdraw that consent by contacting us, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. We do not send promotional newsletters or marketing emails.
Some information is needed to provide the service you request or carry out legally required checks. If it is not supplied, we may be unable to accept instructions or continue the relevant service. We will explain what is needed.
Who we share information with
Where relevant to your instructions or our legal obligations, we share information with HMRC, Companies House and pension providers. We may disclose information to ACCA or other competent authorities where required for supervision, regulation or compliance with the law. We do not sell or rent personal information or share it with third parties for their marketing.
We use accounting, tax, payroll, practice-management, IT and related services. The providers identified by the practice include Sage, BrightManager, VT, Top Up Tax, Payroll Manager, BrightPay, Andica and Microsoft. Only the information relevant to the particular service is processed through each system; not every provider receives every client’s information. Our office IT provider manages support and backups for the office accounting systems. BigWetFish provides website and email hosting and backup services. We do not outsource client accounting work to subcontractors.
Where information is stored and accessed
Our office accounting systems and their associated records are held on a dedicated server in the UK. Backups of those office systems are stored and accessed only within the UK.
BigWetFish provides our website and email hosting and manages backups for those services. Our office-system and website/email backups are stored in the UK, including website/email backup facilities in Antrim, Northern Ireland.
This backup-storage information does not describe every processing or access arrangement of our website and email providers. Contact us at office@gwsaccounts.co.uk for information about the providers and processing arrangements relevant to your information.
How long we keep information
Our usual retention period for tax, accounting and payroll records is six years after the end of the relevant year. Different records may need different periods because of the service, a legal requirement, an outstanding matter or a legal claim. Where we verify an individual’s identity for Companies House as an authorised agent, the associated verification records must be retained for seven years.
For enquiries that do not lead to an engagement, information should be retained only while needed to answer the enquiry, handle related follow-up or resolve a dispute. Our retention arrangements should ensure records are deleted or destroyed when they are no longer required. Contact us if you need information about the retention of a particular record.
Our retention approach takes account of the type of record, relevant statutory and professional requirements, and any need to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. Backup copies are managed separately as part of our recovery arrangements.
Keeping information secure
We restrict access to information to people who need it for their work and apply confidentiality obligations to staff. Our office IT provider manages daily, weekly and monthly backups and snapshots at various times during the day, to support recovery if information is lost or systems fail. No method of electronic transmission or storage can be guaranteed completely secure.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis for processing, you may have rights to access your information, correct inaccuracies, request deletion, restrict its use or receive certain information in a portable format. These rights are subject to legal conditions; for example, we may need to retain records to comply with a legal obligation.
Your right to object: You may object to processing based on legitimate interests for reasons relating to your particular situation. We must then stop that processing unless we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or need the information for legal claims.
To exercise a right, contact office@gwsaccounts.co.uk. We may need information to verify your identity before responding.
Complaints
Please contact us if you are concerned about how we use personal information. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office through ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.
The website
The current website has no enquiry form, analytics or advertising tools. Its cookie settings use browser storage to remember your choice. See our cookie information page for details. Hosting logs may contain technical information such as IP addresses, requested pages and access times.
We do not use solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on people.
Changes to this notice
We will review this notice when our services or use of personal information changes and update the published date. We will bring significant changes to affected people’s attention where appropriate.