Privacy Notice

Your privacy is important to us. This privacy notice explains how Stirling Hunter may collect, use, transfer, and disclose your information.

Personal Information is information that identifies you as an individual or relates to an identifiable individual. This Notice describes how we process, collect, and use this information in connection with:

Websites operated by us from which you are accessing this Notice (the “Site”);
Software platforms and applications we make available for use on or through computers or mobile devices (the “Applications”);
Our social media pages from which you are accessing this Notice (collectively, our “Social Media Pages”);
HTML-formatted email messages we send to you that link to this Policy;
Communications, including subscribing to receive information about our Services or any of our marketing materials such as our regular newsletters, surveys, via emails, SMS/text messages we send to you manually and via automated software.
Offline business interactions you have with us, including in person discussions, telephone conversations, and non-electronic communications.

You do not have to provide any personal information to us, but if you do not, there may be limits on the recruitment, advisory and consulting services we are able to provide you.

Who we are

We are Stirling Hunter Limited, a management consulting business. We are a registered company in the United Kingdom with a registration number of 12086860, our registered office is at Greenwood House Greenwood Court, Bury St Edmunds IP32 7GY.

Our Services help our clients to develop their business, we help them with executive search and project recruitment. organisation design and strategy, talent strategy, rewards and benefits, assessment and succession, leadership development, and other talent needs. We also provide HR consulting Services that range from day-to-day advice to full HR project management, background screening and a range of career advisory services including executive coaching and job-hunting preparation.

Our executive search Services help clients find talent at the board-level, chief executive, and other senior professional and executive positions, our specialist and interim management recruitment Services help senior executives select and hire the talent they need to execute their strategy.

Stirling Hunter is committed to keeping your information secure and managing it in accordance with our legal responsibilities, under the privacy and data protection laws applicable wherever we operate in the world, as well as the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR along with the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EC) 2016/679 (“GDPR”) in the European Union (“EU”).

Who this policy applies to

We collect a variety of personal information to provide our services to you and our clients. This policy applies to you whether you are a candidate for one of our clients, an individual we are assessing as an employee of one of our clients, a client or whether you are a source or a referee in respect of a candidate or an employee of one of our clients.

For the purposes of this policy:

candidate(s) means an individual who is a candidate, applicant, potential candidate, employee of a client;
client(s) means any, business, firm, organisation, government body or individual that mandates us to perform any of our Services;
a referee is a person who provides a personal or work reference in respect of a candidate and;
a source is a person who provides us with information or intelligence about a candidate.

If you disclose any Personal Information relating to other people to us, you represent that you have the authority to do so and to permit us to use the information in accordance with this Policy.

Gathering information

Our clients expect us to identify the best people to fill their roles. We need to research systems, online databases, and other information sources, and talk to many individuals to achieve this. Besides our clients, these will include referees and sources to help inform our decision-making process.

We need to process personal data quickly, discreetly, and often without reference to the data subject. Accordingly, we process such data in accordance with the Data Protection Laws, using our legitimate interest where it is not possible or feasible to speak directly with the data subject. Beyond this, we will seek consent in the circumstances explained later in this policy document.

We collect information from candidates directly when you upload your resume to our candidate portal or when you send this to us via email or post. We also collect information from you when you speak with a Stirling Hunter employee.

We also collect information from you in automated ways, including using cookies and similar technologies as well as using tracking pixels and tokens in our email communications (e.g. to understand whether you have opened a marketing email from us).

How we collect and use personal information

Candidate(s) - We use the personal data we collect from you for several purposes:

Processing job applications for our clients, on whose behalf we are managing a job vacancy. If you apply for a specific job, we may pass your details to the relevant client to proceed with the application. As a result, you may receive further direct correspondence from them.
Searching for relevant candidates for confidential executive recruitment assignments where our client is not initially named. If we feel you are suitable for a specific role, we may pass your basic details on to the relevant client. If that client agrees that you might be suitable, we will then discuss this with you in more detail. You may be interviewed for the role by one of our consultants. If successful, you may be shortlisted for interview by our client. At this point, we will pass further details to the client, you may then receive further direct correspondence from them.
We may conduct mapping and strategic research exercises to help a client mitigate the risks when considering entry into new markets, territories or during the acquisition process. Here, we may include certain aspects of your personal data. You will not be contacted by any third party about this unless we first obtain your consent.
To provide our Services to you as an individual, most likely an assessment or coaching programme.
For equality monitoring purposes, to understand the diversity of our applicant pool, but only if admissible under the applicable law. (This information is anonymised and aggregated).
Improving the service we offer. For example, you may be asked to complete one of our online satisfaction surveys.
For direct marketing purposes, to understand how you use and interact with our recruitment Services, our website and previous communications we have sent you, and to then send you information on our Services, white papers, newsletters, events and so forth which we believe will be relevant to your expressed or inferred interests, or which would generally be relevant to someone in your position. Please note you may opt out from receipt of marketing materials at any time by writing to us.

We will only use your information in accordance with this Policy, where required or authorised by law to disclose your information to others or, have your permission to do so. Please be aware we are not responsible for the data processing activities of others, such as our clients.

Client - We will use client data to perform our Services to you and other legitimate business purposes such as marketing.

Source and Referee - We will use source and referee data to perform our Services to enable us to obtain your opinions on a candidate. We may also use this information to enable us to market our Services to you as a potential client. We may as well invite you to become a candidate in respect of the provision of our Services.

The type of personal data we collect and process - In all cases, we collect and process personal data about you, including your name, address, telephone number and email address.

Candidate - If you proceed with a job application, or should we consult you about a role, you may be required to submit additional personal data. For example, education and career history and curriculum vitae (CV), or resume. Your CV or resume may contain employment history, education, professional qualifications, memberships, details of papers written, references and referees, amongst other things.

Based on your explicit consent, we will also process any relevant psychometric assessments, psychological tests, or results from such assessments or tests.

We may occasionally ask you to provide information relating to protected characteristics, such as your race or marital status. We do this for equal opportunity monitoring purposes and from time to time online, but only if that is admissible under local law. This information is always anonymised and aggregated and will not be revealed to third parties without your specific consent. We might also collect personal data from third-party databases and other public sources.

Client - As well as basic contact information we will also collect information about your role and other information provided to us by your organisation.

Source and Referee - As well as basic contact information we will also collect information regarding your credentials as a source, details of your relationship/knowledge of a candidate and your opinions of that individual. We may obtain this information directly from you or publicly available information.

What we do

We may run job adverts you may respond to, either electronically or via mail. Other roles may involve one of our researchers or consultants calling you to discuss the details. Then, we will either inform you verbally that we will process your personal data or send you a Data Privacy Notice. Both will direct you to this Privacy Policy.

Besides filling particular leadership vacancies, we also process personal data mapping and strategic research exercises to help clients understand the available talent within certain sectors or functions.

Newsletters and other communications

If you would like to receive one of our newsletters, we will ask you to provide us with your name, email address, job title, company name and country of residence. When receiving a newsletter(s) from us, we may send email alerts and bulletins about our Services and any roles that might interest you.

You can unsubscribe from our electronic marketing messages by following the “unsubscribe” instructions included in our communications. Also, you may change your preferences and cease receiving direct marketing from us through your email account settings.

From time to time, we may contact you with updates on our Services, terms of business or simply to ensure that the data we hold is current, relevant, and up to date.

Satisfaction surveys

If you take part in a user satisfaction survey, we may ask you to provide us with personal data, including your name, email address, and your views and opinions.

Providing information to others

To help us run this website, and to provide our Services in certain countries, we collaborate closely with trusted partners with whom we need to share personal data.

We will share information only as anticipated within this Privacy Policy and, wherever appropriate, limit disclosure to information in aggregated form, to avoid or limit identifying you personally. Where we share information with such a third party, you will not be contacted by them, unless we have obtained your prior consent.

Third parties

We may also provide information to third party service providers who process information on our behalf. This is to help run our internal business operations, including email distribution, marketing, IT Services, and customer Services. As part of our agreements with them, these third parties are required to process such data securely and only in accordance with our instructions.

Your information may be shared with organisations located elsewhere in the world. As their privacy laws may not match your home country’s standards, we will only make a transfer if we have first implemented any safeguards, most commonly the ‘standard contractual clauses,’ as required by applicable law. You have a right to request a copy of any safeguards we use to transfer your personal data to third countries.

We may need to disclose information about you to law enforcement bodies, agencies or third parties, under a legal requirement or court order. We will act responsibly and take account, where possible, of your interests when responding to these requests.

If you are concerned about these arrangements to disclose or share personal data with third parties, you should contact us and ask us not to process your personal data.

Sensitive data

We will seek your consent to process personal data in respect of certain specific and limited purposes such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, data concerning health or sex life and sexual orientation, genetic and/or biometric data. We encourage you not to provide us with sensitive personal data unless it is specifically requested, and we have your consent.

Information about others

If you provide us with information about other individuals, such as the details of a referee or personal contact, you must ensure they have agreed to this. We would advise you to keep a record of their agreement and provide them with a copy of, or link to, this Privacy Policy.

Data Security

We invest significant resources to protect your personal data, from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. However, no system can be 100% secure, and so we cannot be held responsible for unauthorised or unintended access that is beyond our reasonable control.

International transfers

Our Services are global, your personal data may be stored and processed in any country where we have operations, our staff are located.

We will take all steps necessary to ensure that your personal data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This means that your personal data will only be transferred to a country that provides an adequate level of protection (for example, where the European Commission or the UK Data Protection Authority, (“ICO”) has determined that a country provides an adequate level of protection) or where the recipient is bound by standard contractual clauses according to conditions provided by the European Commission or ICO.

Our Site and Services are accessible via the internet and may potentially be accessed by anyone around the world. Other users may access the Site or Services from outside the EEA, Switzerland, or the UK. This means that where you chose to post your personal data on our Site or within the Services, it could be accessed from anywhere around the world and therefore a transfer of your personal data outside of the EEA, Switzerland or the UK may be deemed to have occurred.

If you are concerned about these arrangements, you should not use the website and contact us to ask us not to process your personal data.

Keeping Your Information

We keep your personal data for as long as required to provide our Services, and in accordance with legal, tax and accounting requirements. Where your personal data is no longer required, we will ensure it is disposed of in a secure manner. Where required by law, we will notify you when this has happened.

Your right to object and to have your data erased

You are not obliged to provide any personal data to us and may withdraw consent previously given. You have the right to ask us to stop processing any personal data and to have it erased if we no longer have a lawful reason to continue processing your data. You also have the right to object to any processing of your data that we conduct on a ‘legitimate interest’ basis, or to processing conducted for direct marketing purposes.

In these circumstances, we reserve the right to maintain basic personal data such as your name and address. This is to ensure your personal data is not processed by us in the future.

Access rights

In some jurisdictions, you may have the right to request copies of your personal data held by us. If you think any of that data is inaccurate, you may also ask us to correct it. You may also have a right, in certain circumstances, to require us to stop processing your personal data. Also, you have the right to ask us to transfer your personal data to someone you nominate for your own purposes.

To contact us about any of this, please email us using the contact information below. Please note that we may request proof of identity. We will respond to your requests within the period that applies in the country concerned.

In certain circumstances, in countries where it is required or permitted by law, we may not be able to provide you access to your personal data. Wherever possible, we will notify you of the reasons for this.

Updating your account and preferences - If you register an account with us, please keep your details up to date, and notify us of any changes to your personal data. You can do this by updating your user preferences through your account login, or by contacting us using the details below.

Cookies are small, often encrypted text files, located in browser directories. We use cookies to help users navigate our websites efficiently and perform certain functions. Information from cookies also allows us to make improvements to our Services. We only collect "session" cookies, these are usually not stored after your browsing session has ended.

We notify website users that our website uses cookies when first arriving at our website. This is through a one-time pop-up notification that allows you to agree to the use of cookies and provides details on how to delete and control cookies. If you choose to block or delete cookies, this may affect the functionality of this website.

More information about cookies, including how to block them on all sites or delete them, can be found at https://allaboutcookies.org/.

Analytics - We use analytics tools to help deliver our online services, identify any service issues, improve our online services, provide content tailored to users' personal preferences, and monitor site traffic/usage.

These tools may be provided by third-party service providers and may include the collection and tracking of certain data and information regarding the characteristics and activities of visitors to our website. We may disclose data, including personal data, to certain third-party Services providers to obtain such Services.

One of these providers is Google Analytics. More information about how Google Analytics collects and processes personal data can be found at www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners.

To opt out of all Google Analytics tracking visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Third party websites

This Policy only applies to this website. If you land on our site from other websites or move to other ones from our website, you should read their respective privacy policies.

Terms & Conditions

This Privacy Policy explains the ways in which we collect and process personal information, for the terms and conditions which apply to your use of this website, please refer to our Terms & Conditions.

Contact information

If you have questions concerning this website or its policies, or to exercise your rights with respect to your personal information, please contact us at data@stirlinghunter.com.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data or have a complaint, please use the contact information above. If you remain unhappy with how we have used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

Last updated

02 March 2025

We keep this Privacy Policy under regular review and update it from time to time. Please review this policy periodically for any changes.