Privacy Policy

The Step One Studio

A trading name of Ashmore Health Ltd

Last updated: May 2026

Introduction

The Step One Studio is a trading name of Ashmore Health Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (Company No. 12415504), whose registered office is in Teddington, TW11. Please contact me directly for full address details.

I respect your privacy and am committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how I collect, use and protect your personal data when you visit my website (thesteponestudio.co.uk) or engage my services.

Please read this policy carefully. If you have any questions, please contact me at hello@thesteponestudio.co.uk.

1. Who I Am

Ashmore Health Ltd is the data controller responsible for your personal data in connection with The Step One Studio.

Full legal name: Ashmore Health Ltd

Trading as: The Step One Studio

Company number: 12415504

Registered address: Teddington, TW11 (full address available on request)

Contact email: hello@thesteponestudio.co.uk

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). I would appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact me in the first instance.

2. The Data I Collect About You

Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. I may collect and process the following personal data:

Contact and Enquiry Data

When you submit my contact form I collect your first name, last name, email address and a description of your business. This is used to respond to your enquiry and assess how I can help you.

Client Project Data

During the course of a project I may collect and store information you provide including your business name, brand assets, logo files, copy briefs, testimonials, product and service information, photography, and any other materials supplied to me for the purposes of delivering your project.

Financial Data

I collect data necessary to process payments including your name and contact details in connection with invoices. Payments are processed through iZettle, PayPal or bank transfer. I do not store card details.

Technical Data

When you visit my website, Squarespace (my website platform) may automatically collect anonymised technical data including your IP address, browser type and version, time zone, and browsing behaviour on the site. This data is used for website performance and analytics purposes only.

Communications Data

Any communications you send to me by email, contact form or other means are retained for the purposes of responding to you and maintaining records of my working relationship with you.

3. How I Collect Your Personal Data

I collect personal data in the following ways:

• Directly from you — when you complete my contact form, email me, or share materials with me as part of a project

• Through my website — Squarespace collects anonymised technical data automatically when you visit

• Through payment processors — iZettle, PayPal or bank transfer when you make payment

4. How I Use Your Personal Data

I will only use your personal data when the law allows me to. I use your data for the following purposes:

• To respond to your enquiry and assess your project requirements

• To deliver the services you have engaged me for, including web design, copywriting and branding

• To process payments and manage my financial records

• To communicate with you throughout your project

• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations

• To protect and administer my business and website

My lawful basis for processing your personal data is:

• Performance of a contract — where processing is necessary to deliver the services you have engaged

• Legitimate interests — to run and develop my business, respond to enquiries and maintain records

• Legal obligation — where required by law

• Consent — where you have given me specific consent, for example to receive marketing communications

5. Use of AI Tools

In the course of delivering my services, I may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with research, ideation and content development. I wish to be fully transparent about this:

• All work is created, written, designed and personally approved by Katherine Ashmore during the creative process

• AI tools are used as a creative aid only — they do not replace human judgement, expertise or craft

• No personal data, client-identifying information or confidential business information is ever inputted into third-party AI tools

• You will always receive work that has been thoughtfully crafted and reviewed by a real person

6. Marketing Communications

By engaging my services, you agree that your contact details may be used to send you occasional updates, insights and information about services offered by Ashmore Health Ltd and its associated brands, which may include The Step One Studio and Katherine Ashmore Coaching. You can opt out of receiving such communications at any time by contacting me at hello@thesteponestudio.co.uk.

I will never share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes without your express consent.

7. Disclosure of Your Personal Data and Third Party Services

In the course of providing my services I use a number of third-party platforms and services. Your data may be processed by these platforms in accordance with their own privacy policies. I am not responsible for the data practices of any third-party service and I encourage you to review their privacy policies directly.

The third-party services I use include:

• Squarespace Inc. — my website platform. Squarespace processes certain data about visitors to my website. Privacy policy: squarespace.com/privacy

• Google LLC (Google Workspace) — I use Google Workspace for email communication and secure file storage. Google processes data in accordance with its privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy

• PayPal (formerly iZettle) — used for payment processing. When you make a payment via PayPal you are subject to PayPal own terms of service and privacy policy: paypal.com/uk/legalhub/privacy-full. I am not liable for any issues arising from your use of the PayPal platform

• Adobe Inc. (Adobe Sign) — used for electronic signature of project agreements. By signing a document via Adobe Sign you are subject to Adobe own terms of service and privacy policy: adobe.com/uk/legal/terms.html. I am not liable for any issues arising from your use of the Adobe Sign platform

• Professional advisers — including accountants, legal advisers and insurers where necessary

• HM Revenue and Customs and other regulatory authorities where required by law

• Third parties in the event of a sale, merger or restructuring of my business

By engaging my services and using any of the above third-party platforms you acknowledge that you have read and agree to comply with their respective terms of service and privacy policies. I am not responsible or liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising from your use of any third-party platform.

I require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law.

8. Data Security

I take the security of your personal data seriously. I have put in place appropriate measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, accessed, altered or disclosed without authorisation.

Client project files are stored securely in Google Drive. I use secure email and encrypted file transfer where appropriate.

I have procedures in place to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and the ICO where I am legally required to do so.

9. Data Retention

I retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

• Enquiry data — retained for 12 months from the date of enquiry if no project proceeds

• Client project data — retained for 6 years from project completion for tax and legal purposes

• Financial records — retained for 6 years as required by HMRC

• Communications — retained for the duration of the relationship and up to 6 years thereafter

In some circumstances I may anonymise your personal data for statistical purposes, in which case I may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

10. International Transfers

Some of my third-party service providers are based outside the UK or European Economic Area (EEA). Where I transfer your personal data outside the UK or EEA, I ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including:

• Transfers to countries deemed adequate by the UK Government or European Commission

• Use of Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the relevant authority

• Transfers to providers who maintain equivalent data protection standards

11. Your Legal Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access — to receive a copy of the personal data I hold about you

• Right to rectification — to have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected

• Right to erasure — to request deletion of your data where there is no good reason for me to continue processing it

• Right to restriction — to ask me to suspend processing of your data in certain circumstances

• Right to portability — to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format

• Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests

• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact me at hello@thesteponestudio.co.uk. You will not be charged a fee unless your request is clearly unfounded or excessive. I will respond within one month.

If you are unhappy with how I handle your data, you have the right to complain to the ICO at www.ico.org.uk.

12. Cookies and Cookie Policy

This section also serves as my Cookie Policy. My website is built on Squarespace, which uses cookies to operate and improve the site. By continuing to use my website you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with this policy.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently and to provide information to the website owner. Cookies do not give me access to your device or any information about you beyond what you choose to share.

How I use cookies

My website uses the following categories of cookies:

• Strictly necessary cookies — these are essential for the website to function and cannot be switched off. They are usually set in response to actions you take such as filling in a form. You can set your browser to block these cookies but some parts of the site may not work as a result

• Analytics and performance cookies — these allow me to count visits and understand how visitors move around my website. All information collected is anonymised. These cookies help me improve the site. They are provided by Squarespace

• Functional cookies — these enable the website to provide enhanced functionality. They are set by Squarespace to support operation of the site

Squarespace cookies

As my website is built on Squarespace, certain cookies are set by Squarespace Inc. as part of the platform operation. These may include:

• ss_cid — used to identify unique visitors. Expires after 2 years

• ss_cpvisit — used to record the first page visit in a session. Expires after 2 years

• ss_cvisit — used to record subsequent visits in a session. Expires at the end of the session

• ss_cvr — used to record the referral source for visits. Expires after 2 years

• ss_cvt — used to record the time of the last visit. Expires after 2 years

• crumb — a security cookie used to prevent cross-site request forgery. Expires at the end of the session

For full details of cookies used by Squarespace please refer to the Squarespace Cookie Policy at squarespace.com.

Managing cookies

When you first visit my website you will be shown a cookie consent banner. You can choose to accept or decline non-essential cookies at that point.

You can also manage cookies through your browser settings at any time. Most browsers allow you to:

• See what cookies have been set and delete them individually

• Block third-party cookies

• Block all cookies from particular websites

• Block all cookies from being set

Please be aware that restricting cookies may affect the functionality of my website. For guidance on managing cookies in your specific browser please visit www.aboutcookies.org.

Third party cookies

My website may use limited third-party tools that set their own cookies. I do not control these cookies and they are subject to the respective third party own cookie and privacy policies. Where third party tools are used I will endeavour to list them here.

Changes to this cookie policy

I may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies I use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please revisit this page regularly to stay informed. The date at the top of this page indicates when it was last updated.

Contact

If you have any questions about my use of cookies please contact me at hello@thesteponestudio.co.uk.

13. Third-Party Links

My website may contain links to third-party websites. I am not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those websites. I encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

14. Changes to This Policy

I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. I encourage you to review this policy periodically.

It is important that the personal data I hold about you is accurate. Please keep me informed if your personal data changes.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how I handle your personal data, please get in touch:

Email: hello@thesteponestudio.co.uk

Post: Ashmore Health Ltd, Teddington, TW11 — full address available on request

Company No: 12415504

The Step One Studio is a trading name of Ashmore Health Ltd, registered in England and Wales. This policy is governed by English law.