Ascent Professional Services Ltd

Last Updated: June 2026

1. Introduction

Ascent Professional Services Ltd (“APS”, “we”, “our”, “us”) is a specialist recruitment business providing recruitment, executive search and talent advisory services globally, primarily across the management consulting, strategy, transformation and professional services markets.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data fairly, lawfully and transparently.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share and protect personal data relating to candidates, prospective candidates, clients, prospective clients, referees, suppliers, website users and other professional contacts.

APS is headquartered in the United Kingdom and complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”), the Data Protection Act 2018 and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“EU GDPR”). Where we process personal information relating to individuals in other jurisdictions, including the United States, we will do so in accordance with applicable local privacy laws.

2. Who We Are

Data Controller:
Ascent Professional Services Ltd

Registered Address:
The Old Town Hall
4 Queens Road
London
SW19 8YB
United Kingdom

Company Number: 07710102

APS acts as a data controller in respect of the personal data we process for recruitment, executive search, business development, marketing and website-related purposes.

3. Data Protection Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we process your personal data, please contact:

James Liddiatt
Ascent Professional Services Ltd
Email: james.liddiatt@ascentpros.com

4. The Personal Data We Collect

The personal data we collect depends on your relationship with APS.

Candidate and Prospective Candidate Data

We may collect:

  • Name
  • Contact details, including email address, telephone number and address
  • Current and previous employers
  • Job title and employment history
  • CV and professional profile
  • Education, qualifications and professional memberships
  • Salary, bonus, benefits and compensation expectations
  • Career preferences, motivations and availability
  • Location and relocation preferences
  • Right to work, visa or immigration status, where relevant
  • Interview notes, feedback and assessment information
  • References and referee details
  • Publicly available professional information, including LinkedIn profiles and company biographies
  • Records of communications with us
  • Details of roles discussed, applications made and introductions arranged

Client and Prospective Client Data

We may collect:

  • Name
  • Job title
  • Employer or organisation
  • Business contact details
  • Hiring requirements
  • Recruitment activity and preferences
  • Notes from meetings, calls and correspondence
  • Contractual and commercial information relating to our services

Referee Data

Where you are provided as a referee, we may collect:

  • Name
  • Job title
  • Employer
  • Business contact details
  • Professional relationship to the candidate
  • Reference feedback

Website User Data

When you visit our website, we may collect:

  • IP address
  • Browser and device information
  • Pages visited
  • Time spent on the website
  • Cookies and similar tracking information

5. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data in a number of ways.

Directly From You

This may include when you:

  • Send us your CV
  • Apply for a role
  • Register your interest in opportunities
  • Speak with us by phone, email, LinkedIn or in person
  • Attend a meeting or event with us
  • Subscribe to newsletters, salary surveys, market reports or job alerts
  • Use our website or submit information through it

From Publicly Available and Professional Sources

As a recruitment business, we may identify and collect professional information from publicly available and professional sources, including:

  • LinkedIn Recruiter
  • LinkedIn and other professional networking sites
  • Company websites
  • Public biographies
  • Job boards
  • Industry publications
  • Conference and event materials
  • Publicly available business directories

From Third Parties

We may receive personal data from:

  • Candidates
  • Clients
  • Referrals and recommendations
  • Referees
  • Professional contacts
  • Hiring managers
  • Background or verification providers, where relevant

6. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data to provide recruitment, executive search and related professional services.

Recruitment and Executive Search

We may use candidate and prospective candidate data to:

  • Assess your suitability for roles
  • Contact you about relevant opportunities
  • Discuss your experience, objectives and preferences
  • Provide career advice and market insight
  • Arrange interviews and meetings
  • Share role information with you
  • Introduce you to clients, where appropriate
  • Support applications and recruitment processes
  • Keep records of roles discussed, applications made and outcomes
  • Maintain a professional relationship with you over time

We will not submit your CV or profile to a client for a specific role without appropriate prior engagement with you.

Client Services

We may use client and prospective client data to:

  • Provide recruitment and executive search services
  • Discuss hiring needs
  • Identify suitable candidates
  • Manage client relationships
  • Agree commercial terms
  • Deliver market insight, salary information and recruitment advice
  • Maintain business records

Marketing and Market Insight

We may use personal data to send relevant professional communications, including:

  • Job alerts
  • Newsletters
  • Salary surveys
  • Market reports
  • Hiring updates
  • Industry insights
  • Event invitations

You may opt out of marketing communications at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us directly.

Business Administration and Compliance

We may also use personal data to:

  • Manage our business operations
  • Maintain accurate records
  • Comply with legal and regulatory obligations
  • Respond to queries, complaints or disputes
  • Protect our business, systems and data
  • Improve our services and website

7. Lawful Basis for Processing Personal Data

We process personal data under the following lawful bases.

Legitimate Interests

Most of our recruitment activity is carried out on the basis of legitimate interests. This includes:

  • Identifying candidates for relevant professional opportunities
  • Contacting individuals about roles that may be of interest
  • Maintaining candidate and client relationships
  • Providing recruitment and executive search services
  • Developing our business
  • Sending relevant professional updates, where lawful

We consider that this processing is necessary for our business as a specialist recruitment firm and is generally expected in professional markets. We always consider your rights and interests before processing your data.

Contractual Necessity

We may process personal data where necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you or with an organisation you represent.

Legal Obligations

We may process personal data where necessary to comply with legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or employment-related obligations.

Consent

We may rely on consent in certain circumstances, including:

  • Where required for specific marketing activity
  • Where we process certain special category data
  • Where consent is required by local law

You may withdraw consent at any time.

8. Special Category Data

Special category data is more sensitive personal data, such as health information, diversity information, disability information or information revealing racial or ethnic origin.

APS does not routinely collect special category data. Where we do process such data, we will only do so where legally permitted and where appropriate safeguards are in place.

This may include:

  • Where you provide information about a disability or health condition so reasonable adjustments can be made during a recruitment process
  • Where diversity information is collected for monitoring purposes
  • Where processing is necessary for legal obligations
  • Where you have given explicit consent

9. Sharing Personal Data

We may share personal data where necessary and appropriate.

This may include sharing information with:

  • Clients and prospective employers
  • Candidates
  • Referees
  • Technology and software providers
  • Professional advisers
  • Legal, regulatory or public authorities where required
  • Service providers who support our business operations

Candidate information will only be shared with clients in connection with relevant recruitment activity and where appropriate engagement has taken place.

10. Technology Providers and Data Processors

APS uses third-party technology providers to operate our business securely and effectively.

These include:

  • JobAdder – recruitment CRM and applicant tracking system
  • LinkedIn Recruiter – candidate sourcing and professional networking
  • Microsoft 365 / Outlook – email, document management and business communications

These providers may process personal data on our behalf. We take reasonable steps to ensure that our providers maintain appropriate technical, organisational and contractual safeguards.

11. International Transfers

APS provides recruitment services internationally. This means personal data may occasionally be transferred outside the United Kingdom, European Economic Area (“EEA”) or your country of residence.

This may happen where:

  • We work with clients or candidates based overseas
  • We use technology providers with international operations
  • Data is stored, accessed or supported from another country
  • A candidate asks us to assist with an international opportunity

Where personal data is transferred internationally, APS will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include:

  • UK adequacy regulations
  • EU adequacy decisions
  • UK International Data Transfer Agreements
  • UK Addendum to EU Standard Contractual Clauses
  • EU Standard Contractual Clauses
  • Contractual, technical and organisational protections

Where we transfer data from the UK, we will comply with applicable UK GDPR international transfer requirements. Where we transfer data from the EEA, we will comply with applicable EU GDPR transfer requirements.

12. Data Retention

APS retains personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and to meet legal, regulatory and legitimate business requirements.

As a specialist recruitment business operating in senior and specialist professional markets, APS typically retains candidate and professional contact information for up to 10 years from the date of last meaningful contact.

We consider this retention period appropriate because the markets we serve often involve long career cycles, senior appointments, repeat engagement and ongoing professional relationships over many years.

We may retain certain information for longer where required for legal, tax, accounting, regulatory or dispute-resolution purposes.

You may request deletion of your personal data at any time, subject to any legal or legitimate business reasons requiring us to retain it.

13. Security

APS takes the security of personal data seriously.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against:

  • Unauthorised access
  • Loss
  • Misuse
  • Alteration
  • Disclosure
  • Destruction

Access to personal data is limited to authorised APS personnel and trusted service providers who require access for legitimate business purposes.

14. Your Rights

Depending on where you are located and the laws that apply, you may have rights in relation to your personal data.

Under UK GDPR and EU GDPR, these rights may include:

  • The right to be informed about how your data is used
  • The right of access to your personal data
  • The right to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
  • The right to request deletion of your data
  • The right to restrict processing
  • The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests
  • The right to object to direct marketing
  • The right to data portability in certain circumstances
  • The right not to be subject to solely automated decision-making with legal or similarly significant effects
  • The right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent

To exercise your rights, please contact:

James Liddiatt
Email: james.liddiatt@ascentpros.com

We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

15. Cookies

APS uses cookies and similar technologies on its website.

Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website. They help websites function properly, improve user experience and provide information about website usage.

We may use the following types of cookies:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These are required for the website to function and cannot usually be switched off.

Analytics Cookies

These help us understand how visitors use our website, which pages are visited and how the website can be improved.

Preference Cookies

These remember choices you make, such as display or usability preferences.

Marketing Cookies

These may be used to understand engagement with our content or support relevant marketing activity, where applicable.

Where required, APS will request consent for non-essential cookies. You can also manage or disable cookies through your browser settings.

Disabling cookies may affect website functionality.

16. Direct Marketing

APS may send business-to-business and professional marketing communications where lawful and relevant to your role, interests or previous engagement with us.

This may include:

  • Recruitment updates
  • Job alerts
  • Salary surveys
  • Market reports
  • Newsletters
  • Industry insights

You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or contacting us directly.

We do not sell personal data for direct marketing purposes.

17. United States Privacy Notice

This section applies where APS processes personal information relating to individuals in the United States.

The United States does not have a single federal privacy law equivalent to the UK GDPR or EU GDPR. However, certain state privacy laws may apply depending on where you live and how APS processes your personal information.

Where applicable, APS will comply with relevant US state privacy laws.

Categories of Personal Information We May Collect

In the previous 12 months, APS may have collected the following categories of personal information:

  • Identifiers, such as name, email address, telephone number and professional contact details
  • Professional or employment-related information
  • Education information
  • Internet or electronic network activity, such as website usage data
  • Commercial information relating to recruitment services
  • Sensitive personal information, only where necessary and legally permitted

Purposes for Collection

We collect personal information for:

  • Recruitment and executive search services
  • Candidate assessment
  • Client relationship management
  • Business development
  • Marketing and professional communications
  • Website operation and analytics
  • Legal and compliance purposes

Sources of Personal Information

We may collect personal information from:

  • You directly
  • Publicly available professional sources
  • LinkedIn Recruiter
  • Referrals
  • Clients
  • Referees
  • Job boards
  • Our website and cookies

Sharing Personal Information

We may share personal information with:

  • Clients and prospective employers
  • Recruitment technology providers
  • Business software providers
  • Professional advisers
  • Service providers
  • Regulators or authorities where required

APS does not sell personal information.

APS does not knowingly sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising as those terms are commonly understood under California privacy law.

18. California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CCPA/CPRA”), where applicable.

These rights may include:

  • The right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose or share
  • The right to request access to personal information
  • The right to request deletion of personal information
  • The right to request correction of inaccurate personal information
  • The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information
  • The right to limit the use or disclosure of sensitive personal information, where applicable
  • The right not to be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights

APS does not sell personal information.

To exercise California privacy rights, please contact:

James Liddiatt
Email: james.liddiatt@ascentpros.com

We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. You may also appoint an authorised agent to make a request on your behalf, where permitted by law.

19. Automated Decision-Making

APS does not make recruitment decisions based solely on automated processing that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

We may use recruitment technology to help manage candidate information, search records and support administrative processes, but human judgement remains central to our recruitment services.

20. Complaints

If you have concerns about how APS processes your personal data, please contact us first so we can investigate and respond.

Contact:

James Liddiatt
Email: james.liddiatt@ascentpros.com

You also have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant data protection authority.

In the UK, this is:

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

If you are located in the European Economic Area, you may also contact your local supervisory authority.

21. Changes to This Privacy Policy

APS may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, regulation, technology, systems, services or business practices.

The latest version will be available on our website.

Last Updated: June 2026