Shaping Lives are committed to protecting and respecting any personal information you share with us. 

Shaping Lives is part of the Knovia Group. We are a group of sectors focused, best-in-class businesses that are at the forefront of their sectors supporting the adoption of impactful and relevant technology to drive sustainable change and innovation.  

This privacy notice applies to Shaping Lives’ processing of your personal data. Although we may share your personal data within our wider group where we need to – for example to provide or support our services to you. 

Whilst each of our brands have their own specific Privacy Notices about how they will use your personal data, our group Privacy notice can be found at https://knovia.co.uk/privacy-policy/ which details our groups processing of personal data. 

 

What is GDPR? 

The GDPR is a regulation intended to strengthen and unify data protection for everyone within the European Union (EU). The GDPR requires greater openness and transparency from companies on how they collect, store and use personal data, while also imposing tighter limits on the use of personal data. 

How do we use this information? 

We will only process information that is necessary for the purpose for which it has been collected. You will always have the option not to receive marketing communications from us (and you can withdraw your consent or object at any time). We will never send you unsolicited ‘junk’ email or communications, or share your personal information with anyone else who might. 

There are various ways in which we may use or process your personal information. We list these below: 

 

Consent 

Where you have provided your consent, we may use and process your information to: Contact you from time to time about promotions, events, products, services or information which we think may be of interest to you (don’t worry, we won’t bombard you); 

To share your personal information with our recommended third party partners, so that they can contact you with information around apprenticeship opportunities. 

You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at enquiries@pgon.co.uk or, in relation to any marketing messages you receive, by using the unsubscribe option included in those messages. 

 

Contractual performance 

We may use and process your personal information where this is necessary to perform a contract with you and to fulfil and enrolment to an apprenticeship or to find an apprentice. 

 

Legitimate interest 

We may use and process your personal information as set out below where it is necessary for us to carry out activities for which it is in our legitimate interests as a business to do so.  

 

• Processing necessary for us to support apprentices, employers and other enquiries 

• To respond to correspondence you send to us and fulfil the requests you make to us (for example: vacancies and openings, graduates, open days) 

• To provide levy and funding support (for example help calculate allowances) 

• Processing necessary for us to respond to understanding apprentices’ and employers’ needs 

• To analyse, evaluate and improve our products and services so that your visit and experience of our website, applications and services are more useful and enjoyable (we will generally use data amalgamated from many people so that it doesn’t identify you personally) 

• To undertake market analysis and research (including contacting you with customer surveys) so that we can better understand you as a customer and provide tailored offers and services that we think you will be interested in. 

 

We will only send marketing communications to you if you have provided your consent for us to do so or which we have obtained in the ways mentioned in the paragraph below. 

 

• For product development purposes (for example to improve delivery of learning) 

• Processing necessary for us to promote our business, brands and products and measure the reach and effectiveness of our campaigns 

• To send you marketing information from time to time after you have completed your apprenticeship or had an employee who has graduated. We will only contact you with information about our own products and services (and in ways the law allows), which we hope you will like. You have the right to object to us sending you this information at any time 

• To contact you from time to time with marketing information (unless you object) if you have expressly indicated to us that you are acting on behalf of a business or an online or public business directory. In relation to any such information we send by email or SMS, we will include an option allowing you to object to receiving future messages by unsubscribing 

• To identify and record when you have received, opened or engaged with our website or electronic communications (please see our Cookie Policy for more information) 

 

Legitimate interest continued 

 

• Processing necessary for us to operate the administrative and technical aspects of our business efficiently and effectively 

• To verify the accuracy of information that we hold about you and create a better understanding of you as a customer 

• For network and information security purposes i.e. in order for us to take steps to protect your information against loss, damage, theft or unauthorised access 

• To comply with a request from you in connection with the exercise of your rights (for example where you have asked us not to contact you for marketing purposes, we will keep a record of this on our suppression lists in order to be able to comply with your request) 

• To inform you of updates to our terms and conditions and policies 

 

Legal Obligations 

We may process your personal information to comply with our legal requirements (for example to register your apprenticeship application with the ESFA). 

 

Vital interest 

Sometimes we will need to process your personal information to contact you if there is an urgent change to funding rules and we need to tell you about it. 

 

How long do we keep your information? 

We will retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including:
 

• for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax or reporting requirements; 

• as needed to defend or pursue legal claims; and/or 

• as required for legitimate business purposes (such as administering services to you).  

 

In most cases related to funded learning, we may be required to keep your personal data will be retained for a period of between 7 and 10 years after the end of the year in which the final payment was made depending on funding body.   

 

Being in control of your own information 

Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, you have some important rights available to you. In connection with these rights, you may, in certain circumstances: 

 

• Request information about how we are using your personal data  

• Request a copy of your personal data  

• Request that we correct any personal data that is inaccurate  

• Request that we delete your personal data  

• Where you have been asked for and given us your consent to processing of your personal data, withdraw that consent  

• Request that we stop processing all or part of your personal data   

• Exercise a right to object or restrict or suspend us from processing your personal data. If you do object to, restrict, or suspend our processing of your personal data, we may not be able to provide services to you 

• Request that we transfer elements of your personal data to another company  

 

Some of these rights may be limited in some circumstances, or subject to exemptions. If you want to exercise your rights, or to make a complaint, please contact us at privacy@knovia.co.uk.  

 

If we cannot resolve a complaint as you would wish, you may also make a complaint to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) via their website. 

 

Changes to this privacy notice and your duty to inform us of changes 

We keep our privacy notice under regular review and will update it from time to time. If we do, we will post the revised version here and change the date above and/or contact you directly where we deem appropriate to do so under applicable law. You should check here regularly for the most up-to-date version of the notice. 

 

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us by contacting privacy@knovia.co.uk or by visiting/contacting your practice directly. 

 

 

Last updated: 25 March 2025