Last updated: 20 October 2026
Who we are
The Garage Inspector is the trading name of Savva Automotive Limited. We provide business training, online courses, mentoring, garage business reviews, on-site team training and speaking services for the automotive industry.
This privacy policy explains how we collect and use personal information when you visit our website, use our online Academy, contact us, request resources or use our services.
Savva Automotive Limited is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy, except where we act on a client’s instructions as explained below.
You can contact us about your personal information using these details:
- Email: [email protected]
- Telephone: 07884 008 811
- Post: Savva Automotive Limited, 5 Mayfair Terrace, London N14 6HU
The information we collect
The information we collect depends on how you interact with us.
Enquiries and business contacts
When you contact us or enquire about our services, we may collect your name, email address, telephone number, garage or company name, location and the information you include in your message.
For mentoring enquiries, this may also include the size of your team and the business challenges you would like help with.
Training, bookings and payments
When you book training or buy a service, we may collect contact and billing details, delegate names, booking information, correspondence, payment status and records of the services provided.
If your employer or a colleague books on your behalf, they may provide your name, work contact details and booking requirements.
All payments are processed through Stripe, an external payment provider. We do not store bank account or payment-card details. We may retain transaction references, payment status and invoice information to administer your purchase and maintain accounting records.
Stripe processes payment information under its own applicable privacy terms.
Online Academy
When you use our online Academy, we process the information needed to create and manage your account and provide access to your courses.
This may include your account details, enrolments, learning progress, completion records, certificates, support requests and contributions to course discussions.
Information you choose to post in a shared discussion may be visible to other participants who can access that discussion.
Garage business healthcheck
When you complete our garage business healthcheck, we collect your name, email address, answers and the scores or recommendations generated from those answers.
We use this information to provide your personalised report, respond to questions about it and group contacts according to their business interests and needs for relevant marketing, subject to their marketing preferences.
Reports, resources and newsletters
When you request a report or another resource, we collect the details needed to send it to you.
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we record your subscription preferences and information needed to evidence and manage your consent.
Our customer relationship management system also records email opens and link clicks. We use this information to understand engagement, assess the effectiveness of our communications, improve our content and support business analytics.
Mentoring and business reviews
During mentoring, consultancy, on-site training or a garage business review, you may share information about your business, finances, operations, team or customers.
Some of this may be personal information, particularly where it relates to a sole trader or identifies an employee, customer or other individual. We may also keep relevant correspondence, meeting notes and agreed actions.
Please avoid sending identifiable employee or customer records where anonymised information would be sufficient.
Website and technical information
Our website and online services may process technical information such as your IP address, browser and device details, access times and information about errors or security events.
Cookies and similar technologies are explained below.
Where we obtain information
We usually collect personal information directly from you through our forms, emails, telephone calls, meetings, bookings and online services.
We may also receive information from:
- Your employer or a colleague arranging training or services for you.
- A client providing information needed for an agreed project.
- Providers involved in administering your booking, payment or online account.
We generate some information through your interactions with us, including healthcheck results, learning records and email engagement information.
Where we receive information about you from someone else, we use it for the relevant purpose and provide privacy information as required.
How and why we use your information
We use personal information where we have a lawful basis under applicable UK data protection law.
Responding to enquiries
We use your information to answer questions, discuss your requirements and prepare proposals.
Where you are considering entering into a contract with us personally, this processing may be necessary to take steps at your request before entering into that contract.
For other enquiries, including enquiries made on behalf of a company, we rely on our legitimate interests in responding to potential customers and managing business relationships.
Providing training and services
We use relevant information to manage bookings, deliver training and mentoring, provide Academy access, administer purchases and communicate about the services you have requested.
Where our contract is with you personally, we rely on contractual necessity. Where you participate through your employer or another organisation, we rely on our legitimate interests in delivering and administering that organisation’s booking.
Providing healthcheck results and requested resources
We use the details you provide to deliver your healthcheck report or requested resource.
Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in responding to your request and providing useful business information. Requesting a resource or completing a healthcheck does not, by itself, subscribe you to our newsletter.
Sending newsletters and promotional emails
We use your information to send newsletters and promotional emails where you have opted in. We rely on your consent for these subscriptions.
You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our marketing emails or contacting us.
Understanding engagement and making communications relevant
We use email engagement information for business analytics and to improve the usefulness of our communications.
We also use healthcheck answers and results to group contacts by business interests and needs. This helps us select relevant topics, resources and services for people who have agreed to receive marketing.
We rely on our legitimate interests in understanding our audience and making our communications relevant, except where consent is required for the tracking technology or processing involved. Where consent is required, we rely on that consent.
Our legitimate interests do not override a requirement to obtain consent or your right to object to direct marketing.
Managing and protecting our business
We may use relevant information to administer our business, maintain service records, resolve complaints, prevent misuse, protect our systems and establish or defend legal claims.
We rely on our legitimate interests in operating a reliable business, protecting our services and resolving disputes. We consider the impact on individuals before relying on legitimate interests.
Meeting legal obligations
We use and retain information where necessary to meet legal obligations, including applicable accounting and tax requirements.
Where information is needed to arrange a booking, provide account access or deliver a requested service, we may be unable to fulfil that request if you do not provide it. Newsletter subscriptions are optional.
Marketing preferences and email analytics
Our enquiry, healthcheck and resource-request forms provide a separate option to subscribe to marketing emails.
You do not need to subscribe to receive a response to an enquiry, your requested report or a service you have purchased.
Our CRM records whether emails have been opened and which links have been clicked. We use these records to assess engagement, understand which content is useful and help identify inactive contacts.
Where the technology used requires consent, we obtain that consent before using it. You can contact us about your tracking preferences or to withdraw any consent you have given.
You can unsubscribe from marketing at any time. You can also object to the use of your information for direct marketing, including the segmentation associated with it.
Unsubscribing from marketing does not stop essential communications about an existing booking, purchase, Academy account or service.
We may retain a limited record of your opt-out so that we can respect your preference.
Automated healthcheck scoring and marketing segmentation
The garage business healthcheck generates scores and recommendations automatically from the answers you provide. It does not use artificial intelligence.
The assessment evaluates your responses across the business areas covered by the healthcheck and produces a personalised report highlighting areas for attention.
We also use the answers and results for marketing segmentation. This means grouping contacts according to their business needs and interests so that, where they have subscribed to marketing, we can send more relevant information.
This use of information to assess interests and tailor marketing is a form of profiling. Completing the healthcheck does not automatically subscribe you to marketing.
You can contact us if you believe your answers or results are inaccurate, would like to discuss the recommendations or wish to object to marketing segmentation.
Personal information supplied by business clients
Where a client asks us to process personal information solely on their behalf and under their instructions, the client is the data controller and we act as their data processor. This processing is governed by the relevant data processing terms.
This does not apply to all information a client shares with us. We remain a controller for information we use for our own purposes, such as managing client relationships, invoicing and maintaining necessary business records.
If a request concerns information we process on a client’s behalf, we may refer it to that client and assist them in responding.
Who we share information with
Where necessary for the purposes described in this policy, we may share relevant information with:
- Providers supporting our website, hosting, IT systems and online Academy.
- Providers supporting our CRM, email delivery, communications and customer administration.
- Stripe and providers supporting payment administration and accounting systems.
- Venues, trainers or delivery partners involved in a booking.
- Authorities or other parties where disclosure is required by law or necessary for legal proceedings.
We limit sharing to information relevant to the purpose. Where a supplier processes information on our behalf, we require appropriate contractual protections.
How long we keep information
Our standard retention period for inactive contacts is two years from their last relevant interaction with us.
We remove a contact’s personal information when they are no longer relevant to our business and there has been no relevant activity for two years. Relevant activity may include a booking, purchase, enquiry, use of our services, email open or link click.
Sending an email to a contact does not, by itself, restart this period.
We review contact records to identify information that is no longer needed. We may delete information sooner where its purpose has ended or where we agree to a valid request for erasure.
Limited exceptions apply where:
- We must retain records for legal, tax or accounting purposes.
- Information is needed to fulfil an ongoing service or resolve an outstanding complaint or legal claim.
- A minimal unsubscribe record is needed to prevent further marketing.
These exceptions do not mean that we continue using inactive contacts’ information for marketing.
When information is no longer needed, we delete it securely or anonymise it so that individuals are no longer identifiable. Where information remains in backups until they expire, we restrict its use.
Cookies, videos and similar technologies
Our websites may use cookies and similar technologies for functions such as account access, security and remembering preferences. Third-party content, including video players, may also involve these technologies.
Our emails may use tracking technologies to record opens and link clicks, as described above.
Where consent is required, we ask for it before using the relevant technology. Where a statutory exception applies, we provide the information and any controls required for that exception.
You can manage cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect the operation of our websites or Academy. You can also contact us about your privacy and tracking preferences.
Following a link to a third-party website takes you to a service with its own privacy information.
Keeping information secure
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure.
Access is limited to people and providers who need the information for their work. We review our arrangements in light of the information we hold and the risks involved.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
- Ask for access to your personal information and a copy of it.
- Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
- Ask us to erase information.
- Ask us to restrict how we use information.
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Receive certain information in a portable format.
- Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.
You have an absolute right to object to the use of your personal information for direct marketing, including related profiling and segmentation.
Other rights may be subject to conditions or exceptions. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
To exercise your rights, contact us using the details above. We may need to verify your identity. We normally respond within one month, subject to any extensions or adjustments permitted by law, and will explain any applicable delay.
Complaints
If you have concerns about how we handle your information, please contact us so that we can investigate.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK data protection regulator. You do not have to complain to us first.
Website: ico.org.uk
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when our services, practices or legal obligations change. The date at the top shows when it was last updated. Where required, we will bring significant changes to your attention.