Privacy policy

Last updated 26 September 2026

First Achieve Ltd is the data controller for personal data submitted through this site. We are a company incorporated in Scotland under company number SC482585, registered office 4 Spiersbridge Way, Spiersbridge Business Park, Glasgow G46 8NG.

What we collect

We do not ask for sensitive information such as your health, ethnicity or beliefs. If you choose to tell us about a disability or health condition so we can arrange an adjustment for an interview, we use it for that and nothing else.

Where it comes from

• You, when you apply, send us your CV or speak to us
• Job boards and professional networking sites, where you have made your profile visible to recruiters
• People who recommend you to us
• Your referees, and clients who interview you
• Public sources, such as company websites

If we get your details from someone other than you, we will tell you where from when we first contact you, and within a month at the latest.

Why we are allowed to use it

• Your consent. When you apply for a role or send us your CV, you tick a box agreeing to how we will use your details. When you apply for a specific role, being kept on file for other roles is a separate, optional box. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Our legitimate interests. Running a recruitment business: finding candidates for the roles our clients ask us to fill, including people who have made their profile visible to recruiters; keeping a record of our dealings with candidates and clients; and improving our service. We only rely on this where it does not override your own interests and rights, and you can object to it.
• Legal obligations. Keeping the records the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 require of us, including confirming your identity and that you hold any qualification or authorisation a role requires; keeping tax and accounting records; and responding to lawful requests from the authorities.
• A contract. Where you engage us as a client, or where you ask us to take a step before an engagement, such as arranging an interview.

What we use it for

• Matching you with roles, and introducing you to a client once you have agreed
• Managing applications, interviews, offers and references
• Finding candidates for the roles our clients ask us to fill
• Keeping records of our correspondence, agreements and payments
• Meeting our legal and regulatory obligations
• Telling you about other roles or our services, but only if you have asked us to
• Understanding how this site is used: anonymous page counts, and more detail only if you accept analytics cookies

We do not make decisions about you by automated means alone, and we do not profile you. A consultant reads every application.

How long we keep it

Candidate records (your CV, contact details and our notes) are held for 24 months from the date you gave consent, then deleted along with the CV file itself. We keep a backup copy of each CV so one deleted by mistake can be restored; once a CV is deleted, for any reason, its backup copy is deleted within 30 days. Employer enquiries are kept as a commercial record for as long as we trade with you. Records we must keep by law, such as tax and accounting records, are kept for as long as the law requires.

When you apply for a role, we use your details for that application. We only contact you about other roles if you tick the box that asks for that.

Who sees it

Your CV is read by the consultant covering your market. It is never sent to a client until you have agreed to that specific company by name. We do not sell data, and we do not share it with other agencies. Beyond our own team, your data can go to:

• Clients, and only a client you have agreed to by name (see below)
• Companies that provide services to us and act only on our instructions: website and database hosting, email delivery, our recruitment database and the job-advertising service that passes applications into it, security screening (our CV forms may use Cloudflare's bot check to stop automated submissions), IT support, and, if you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics
• Our professional advisers, such as accountants, lawyers and insurers
• HM Revenue & Customs, the police, fraud-prevention agencies, the Information Commissioner's Office or another authority, where the law requires or allows it
• A buyer or successor, if all or part of our business is sold, merged or restructured, or in an insolvency, who must protect your data as this policy does

Some of these providers store or process data outside the UK. When they do, the transfer is covered by UK adequacy regulations or by the contract clauses the Information Commissioner’s Office approves for international transfers.

Access to candidate data is limited to the people in our team who need it, and it is sent over encrypted connections.

When we pass your details to a client

Once you have agreed to an introduction, the position between us and that client is set by clause 12 of our terms of business, and it is this:

• We are a data controller. So are you. We are not joint controllers. First Achieve is a data controller in respect of a candidate's personal data and provides that data to a client in accordance with data protection legislation for the purposes anticipated by the terms. A client is a data controller in its own right. The parties are not joint controllers as defined within data protection legislation, unless a specific agreement is made to that effect.
• Both sides process lawfully, and both sides protect it Each party warrants to the other that any personal data relating to a data subject, whether provided by the client, by us, or by the candidate, will be used, processed and recorded in accordance with data protection legislation. Both parties take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect all personal data against accidental loss, destruction or damage, alteration or disclosure.
• We can refuse to share data, and we will A client that requires personal data not already in its control must set out the legal basis for the request, and accepts that we may refuse to share or transfer that data where, in our reasonable opinion, doing so would not comply with our obligations under data protection legislation. A client must not cause us to breach ours.

A client must only use your details for the vacancy it received them for, must not pass them to anyone else without our written consent, and must tell us immediately if it becomes aware of any breach involving them.

Your rights

• Access. Ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction. Ask us to correct anything inaccurate or incomplete.
• Deletion. Ask us to delete your data where we no longer have a good reason to keep it.
• Restriction. Ask us to stop using your data, other than keeping it, while a question about it is settled.
• Objection. Object to anything we do on the basis of our legitimate interests. If you object to marketing, we stop, with no questions asked.
• Withdrawing consent. Where we rely on your consent, withdraw it at any time. That stops future use, but does not make anything we did before it unlawful.
• Portability. Ask for the data you gave us in a common electronic format, or for us to send it to someone else.

To use any of them, email privacy@firstachieve.com or call 0141 816 0116. There is no charge. We may ask you to confirm your identity first, and we reply within one month. If a request is complex we can take up to two further months, and we will tell you why within the first month. We can charge a reasonable fee for, or refuse, a request that is clearly unfounded or excessive, and we will explain why if we do.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. We would appreciate the chance to put it right first.

Cookies

We use Google Analytics to understand how this site is used, but only if you choose “Accept analytics”. It sets cookies named _ga and _ga_ followed by an ID, which last up to two years, and the data linked to them is kept for no more than 14 months. If you choose “Decline”, nothing from Google loads.

Your choice is remembered in your browser. You can change it at any time with Cookie settings here or in the footer, or by clearing this site’s data in your browser.

We also count page views with Vercel Web Analytics, which sets no cookies, stores no IP address and cannot identify you. The only other cookies are the ones that keep our own staff signed in to our content system. Refusing optional cookies never stops you using any part of this site, including the jobs board. Sites we link to, such as job boards and social networks, have their own privacy and cookie policies.

Changes to this policy

We update this page when the way we handle personal data changes, and the date at the top shows when it last did. If a change affects how we use data we already hold about you, we will tell you directly.

Contacting us about this policy

Write to us at 4 Spiersbridge Way, Spiersbridge Business Park, Glasgow G46 8NG, email info@firstachieve.com, or use the details on our contact page.