Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors, North Harrow, established 1987 020 8424 0060  |  admin@chartac.net
Legal

Privacy notice

Adams Moorhouse, Chartered Accountants. Last updated 1 September 2026.

This notice explains how Adams Moorhouse, Chartered Accountants ("we", "us" or "the firm") collects, uses and protects personal data, and the rights you have in relation to it. It applies to clients and prospective clients, to individuals connected with our clients (such as directors, shareholders, employees and beneficiaries), to visitors to our website, and to anyone else whose personal data we handle in the course of our work. We are committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who we are

Adams Moorhouse, Chartered Accountants is the trading name of Adams Moorhouse Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales with company number 10125121. Our registered office is Premier Suite, 4 Churchill Court, 58 Station Road, North Harrow, Middlesex HA2 7ST. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this notice and we are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration number Z4625743.

We have not appointed a statutory data protection officer, as we are not required to do so. Questions about this notice or about how we use your data should be addressed to the Principal at the address above, by telephone on 020 8424 0060, or by email to admin@chartac.net.

2. The personal data we collect

The data we hold depends on the services we provide to you. It may include:

  • Identity and contact details: name, address, date of birth, telephone number, email address, and copies of identity documents such as passports and driving licences.
  • Financial information: bank details, income, expenditure, assets, liabilities, investments, pensions, and details of transactions.
  • Tax information: National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference, VAT number, PAYE reference, tax returns and correspondence with HM Revenue and Customs.
  • Business information: details of companies, partnerships, trusts and other entities with which you are connected, including shareholdings, directorships and beneficial ownership.
  • Employment and payroll information, where we provide payroll services, including salary, pension contributions and, where relevant, statutory payments.
  • Information required for anti money laundering purposes, including source of funds and source of wealth.
  • Information you provide when you contact us, including through the enquiry form on our website.

Some of this information may include special category data, for example where health information is relevant to a tax claim or where a statutory payment relates to sickness or parental leave. We process such data only where a lawful condition applies, usually because it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation or because you have provided it to us for the purpose of the advice you have asked for.

3. Where the data comes from

Most of the personal data we hold is provided by you directly, or by someone acting on your behalf. We also receive data from HM Revenue and Customs, Companies House, banks and other financial institutions, your previous accountants, other professional advisers, credit reference and identity verification agencies, and publicly available sources such as the electoral roll and the Companies House register.

4. How and why we use personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes and on the following lawful bases.

  • To provide our services under our engagement with you, including accounts preparation, audit, tax compliance and advice, payroll and company secretarial work. Lawful basis: performance of a contract, or steps taken at your request before entering into one.
  • To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, the Companies Act 2006, tax legislation, and the requirements of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, including audit regulation and quality monitoring. Lawful basis: legal obligation.
  • To manage our relationship with you, including communicating with you, maintaining our records, resolving complaints and collecting fees. Lawful basis: performance of a contract and our legitimate interests in running the firm properly.
  • To protect the firm and our clients, including taking and defending legal claims, maintaining professional indemnity insurance and keeping records for the period in which a claim could be brought. Lawful basis: legitimate interests and legal obligation.
  • To send you information we think will be of interest, such as updates on tax and regulatory changes. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in keeping clients informed, or your consent where the law requires it. You may opt out at any time by contacting us.
  • To respond to enquiries submitted through our website or otherwise. Lawful basis: steps taken at your request before entering into a contract, and our legitimate interests.

We do not make decisions about you by automated means and we do not sell personal data.

5. Who we share personal data with

We share personal data only where it is necessary for the purposes above. Recipients may include:

  • HM Revenue and Customs, Companies House and other government bodies to which we submit filings on your behalf.
  • The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, for regulatory and quality assurance purposes, including the inspection of audit and other client files.
  • Banks, lenders, insurers and other third parties, where you ask us to provide information to them.
  • Other professional advisers acting for you, such as solicitors, financial advisers and overseas accountants, where you have asked us to work with them.
  • Providers of software and services we use to run the practice, including accounts production, tax, payroll and practice management software, cloud storage, email and IT support. These providers act as processors on our instructions and under written contracts.
  • Identity verification and credit reference agencies, for anti money laundering checks.
  • Our professional indemnity insurers and legal advisers, where necessary.
  • Law enforcement agencies, courts and regulators, where we are required to do so by law. This includes reporting under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, where we are not permitted to tell you that a report has been made.

6. International transfers

Some of our clients and their advisers are outside the United Kingdom, and some of the software we use may store data on servers outside the United Kingdom. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as a UK adequacy regulation for the destination country or the International Data Transfer Agreement approved by the Information Commissioner, unless the transfer is necessary for the performance of your contract with us or is made at your request.

7. How long we keep personal data

We keep personal data for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and thereafter for as long as we are required to by law or by our professional obligations. In general:

  • Client files, working papers and correspondence are retained for seven years after the end of the engagement to which they relate, reflecting statutory retention periods for tax and company records and the period in which a claim could be brought.
  • Audit files are retained for at least six years from the date of the audit report, in accordance with ICAEW Audit Regulations.
  • Records obtained for anti money laundering purposes are retained for five years after the end of the business relationship, as required by the 2017 Regulations, and may be retained for longer where the law permits.
  • Enquiries from prospective clients who do not become clients are retained for twelve months.

At the end of the retention period, data is securely destroyed or deleted.

8. How we keep personal data secure

We hold personal data in secure practice management and accounting systems protected by access controls and encryption, and in locked physical storage at our offices. Access is limited to members of the firm who need it to do their work. Our staff are trained in confidentiality and data protection, and our processors are bound by contract to protect the data they handle on our behalf. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify the Information Commissioner's Office and, where required, you.

9. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights, subject to certain conditions and exemptions:

  • The right to be informed about how we use your data, which this notice is intended to satisfy.
  • The right of access to the personal data we hold about you.
  • The right to have inaccurate data corrected and incomplete data completed.
  • The right to have your data erased in certain circumstances, although this will not apply where we are required to keep it by law or for the establishment or defence of legal claims.
  • The right to restrict processing in certain circumstances.
  • The right to data portability, where processing is based on your consent or a contract and is carried out by automated means.
  • The right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to object at any time to direct marketing.
  • The right to withdraw consent at any time where consent is the basis on which we process your data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in section 1. We will respond within one month, or within three months where a request is complex, and we will not normally charge a fee. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we act on a request.

10. Our website

Our website does not set cookies and does not use analytics or tracking tools. If you use the enquiry form, it opens a message in your own email program addressed to us; the details you include are then held by us as described in this notice and used to respond to your enquiry. Our website may contain links to other sites, including the ICAEW register and the Information Commissioner's Office, and this notice does not apply to those sites.

11. Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your personal data, please raise it with us first using the details in section 1 and we will do our best to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, telephone 0303 123 1113, website ico.org.uk.

12. Changes to this notice

We review this notice periodically and will publish any changes on this page. Where a change materially affects how we use your data, we will bring it to the attention of clients directly.