Last updated: September 2026

The SME & Boutique Law Firm Alliance ("the Alliance", "we", "us" or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information fairly, transparently and securely.

This Privacy Notice explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, how long we keep it and the rights you have in relation to your information.

1. Who we are

The SME & Boutique Law Firm Alliance is an initiative established to represent and promote the collective interests of small, medium and boutique law firms and those working within them, particularly in relation to regulatory and policy matters affecting the sector.

Until the Alliance is established as a separate legal entity, the data controllers responsible for personal information collected through this website is:

Circe Law Ltd
7 Lake End Court, Taplow Road, Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 0JQ
Company number: 14299078
SRA number: 8003006

And

HiveRisk Limited

Suite 4a, Ribby Hall Village, Ribby Road, Wrea Green, Preston, PR4 2PR

Company Number: 10568011

For enquiries about this Privacy Notice or the way in which your personal information is handled, please contact:

Email: info@smeblaw.co.uk 

2. Information we collect

Depending upon how you interact with the Alliance, we may collect:

• your name;
• your email address;
• your job title or professional role;
• the name of your firm or organisation;
• information about the size or type of your firm;
• your professional or regulatory status, where relevant;
• your SRA number, where provided;
• information you provide when supporting or signing a campaign, open letter, consultation response or other initiative;
• your preferences regarding Alliance membership and communications;
• correspondence you send to us;
• information you provide when responding to surveys or requests for evidence;
• technical information generated when you use our website, including information collected through cookies and similar technologies where applicable; and
• any other information you choose to provide to us.

We ask that you do not provide special category personal data or other sensitive personal information unless we specifically request it and explain why it is required.

3. How we collect your information

We may collect personal information directly from you when you:

• complete a form on our website;
• add your name to an open letter or campaign;
• join the Alliance;
• subscribe to campaign or regulatory updates;
• respond to a survey or consultation;
• contact us by email or through the website;
• attend an Alliance event or meeting; or
• otherwise engage with our work.

We may also receive professional contact information from publicly available sources or from another person or organisation where it is lawful and appropriate for us to do so.

Where we obtain personal information from another source, we will handle that information in accordance with applicable data protection law.

4. Why we use your information

We may use your personal information to:

Campaigns and open letters

Administer campaigns, open letters, consultation responses and other collective representations made on behalf of SME and boutique law firms.

Where you specifically agree to add your name to a public open letter or campaign, your name, professional title and firm or organisation may be published and provided to the relevant regulator, professional body, government department, media organisation or other intended recipient of that campaign.

We will not publish your email address unless you have expressly agreed to this.

Alliance Membership

Maintain a record of individuals and organisations that have chosen to join or support the Alliance and administer your involvement with it.

Regulatory and Policy Engagement

Contact members and supporters about regulatory consultations, policy proposals, legislative developments and other matters relevant to SME and boutique law firms.

This may include inviting members to contribute evidence, participate in surveys, support representations or engage with regulators, government and professional bodies.

Research and Evidence Gathering

Analyse information provided by members and supporters to understand how regulatory or policy proposals may affect different types of law firm.

Where possible, statistical or research information will be aggregated or anonymised before it is published.

Communications

Send you communications which you have requested or agreed to receive, including campaign updates and Alliance communications.

Administration and Security

Operate, maintain and protect our website, records and systems, respond to enquiries and prevent misuse or unlawful activity.

5. Our lawful basis for using your information

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal information.

Depending upon the circumstances, we may rely upon:

Consent

Where you have actively chosen to receive particular communications or agreed to a particular use of your information.

You may withdraw your consent at any time.

Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing which took place before consent was withdrawn.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal information where this is necessary for our legitimate interests in operating the Alliance, administering membership, representing the interests of SME and boutique law firms, conducting research, responding to regulatory and policy developments and communicating with relevant professional stakeholders, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Where required, we assess those interests against the impact of the processing upon the individuals concerned.

Legal Obligations

We may process information where necessary to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

6. Open letters, campaigns and publication of your name

If you choose to become a signatory to an open letter or public campaign, we will clearly tell you what information is intended to be made public before you submit your support.

Unless otherwise stated, this will ordinarily be limited to:

• your name;
• your professional title or role; and
• your firm or organisation.

By choosing to become a public signatory, you acknowledge that this information may subsequently become publicly available and may be reproduced or reported by third parties, including regulators, professional bodies, journalists and members of the public.

Your contact details will not be published as part of the signatory list unless you have expressly agreed otherwise.

7. Future communications

Supporting a particular campaign or signing an open letter does not automatically mean that you have agreed to receive unrelated future communications from the Alliance.

Where appropriate, we will give you separate choices about whether you wish to:

• join the Alliance;
• receive updates about a particular campaign; and/or
• receive wider regulatory and policy communications from the Alliance.

You can change your communication preferences or unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe facility included in relevant emails or by contacting us.

8. Who We Share Information With 

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share personal information where necessary with:

• regulators and professional bodies, where you have supported a representation or campaign addressed to them;
• government departments, parliamentary bodies or other public authorities where relevant to an Alliance campaign or consultation;
• professional advisers;
• organisations providing website hosting, database, email, survey, IT or other administrative services to us;
• organisations assisting us with events, campaigns or research;
• law enforcement, regulatory bodies or other authorities where required by law; and
• another entity which assumes responsibility for operating the Alliance in the future.

Where a third-party service provider processes personal information on our behalf, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the information is protected.

9. International Transfer

Some organisations providing technology, website, email, cloud storage or other services to us may process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism or safeguard is in place where required by data protection law.

Further information about the safeguards applicable to a particular transfer can be requested using the contact details above.

10. How Long We Keep Your Information

We will retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

As a general approach:

• campaign administration information will normally be retained for the duration of the relevant campaign and for an appropriate period afterwards to maintain an accurate historical record;
• records of published signatories may be retained as part of the permanent historical record of a campaign;
• Alliance membership information will normally be retained while you remain a member and for a reasonable period afterwards;
• communication preferences and records of consent may be retained for as long as necessary to demonstrate compliance with data protection and electronic marketing requirements;
• records showing that an individual has unsubscribed or objected to communications may be retained on a suppression list so that we can respect that preference in the future; and
• correspondence and administrative records will be retained only for as long as reasonably required for operational, regulatory or legal purposes.

We will periodically review the information we hold and securely delete or anonymise information which is no longer required.

11. Keeping Your Information Secure

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss or destruction.

Access to personal information is limited to those who reasonably require it for the operation of the Alliance or the relevant campaign.

12. Your Rights

Depending upon the circumstances and the lawful basis on which your information is processed, you may have the right to:

• request access to the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• ask us to erase your personal information;
• ask us to restrict the way in which we use your information;
• object to certain processing;
• receive certain information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent where processing is based upon consent; and
• complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Some of these rights are subject to exemptions and will not apply in every circumstance.

You have the right to object at any time to the use of your personal information for direct marketing.

If you object to direct marketing, we will stop using your information for that purpose.

To exercise any of your rights, please contact us at: info@smeblaw.co.uk 

13. Complaints

If you have concerns about the way we use your personal information, please contact us in the first instance so that we can investigate.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's independent data protection regulator.

Further information is available from the Information Commissioner's Office.

14. Cookies 

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies.

Cookies which are strictly necessary for the operation and security of the website may be used without consent where permitted by law.

We will ask for your consent before using non-essential cookies where consent is required.

Further information about the cookies used by this website, their purposes and how long they remain on your device is available in our Cookie Notice and cookie preference settings.

15. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites and encourage you to review their privacy information before providing personal information to them.

16. Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time, including where our activities, organisational structure or legal obligations change.

The latest version will always be published on this website and the date of the most recent update will appear at the top of this notice.

If we make a material change to the way in which we use information already provided to us, we will take appropriate steps to bring that change to the attention of affected individuals where required.

Last updated: 4 September 2026

This website uses cookies and similar technologies to help it work properly, understand how visitors use the site and improve the experience we provide.

Cookies are small files placed on your computer, tablet or mobile device when you visit a website. They can be used to make websites work effectively, remember preferences and provide information about how a website is being used.

We may use the following types of cookies:

Essential cookies
These are necessary for the website to function properly, including security, navigation and other basic website functions.

Analytics cookies
These help us understand how visitors use our website, such as which pages are visited and how visitors interact with the site. This information helps us improve our website and its content.

Functional cookies
These may be used to remember your choices or preferences and provide additional website functionality.

Third-party cookies
Some features or services provided through our website may be supplied by third parties, including our website hosting and technology providers. These providers may use their own cookies or similar technologies when providing those services.

Our website is built and hosted using GoDaddy.

Where consent is required, non-essential cookies will only be used after you have given your consent.

You can accept, reject or manage non-essential cookies using the cookie controls provided on our website. You can also control or delete cookies through your web browser settings.

Please note that disabling some cookies may affect the way certain parts of the website function.

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time, particularly if the technology or services used on our website change. The latest version will always be available on this page.

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or our use of cookies, please contact:

SME & Boutique Law Firm Alliance