Terms of Service

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Effective date: [01 March 2026]

Last updated: [01 March 2026]

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the Trade Guy Community social network and forums (the “Community”), available at tradeguy.online and tradeguy.sitexdirect.com (together, the “Site”).

By accessing or using the Site, creating an account, posting content, or otherwise interacting with the Community, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.

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1) Who we are

The Trade Guy Community is operated by Sitex Industrial Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”), trading as Trade Guy Community.

The Community is provided at tradeguy.online and tradeguy.sitexdirect.com (together, the “Site”).

Company number: 10610868

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2) The Community

Trade Guy Community is a moderated online community for UK trades and serious DIY, providing discussion forums, Q&A, user profiles, groups, messaging (where enabled), notifications, and related features.

We may add, remove, or change features at any time.

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3) Eligibility

You may use the Site only if:

• You are at least 16 years old (or older if required by law in your jurisdiction), and
• You can legally enter into these Terms.

If you are using the Site on behalf of a business, you confirm you have authority to bind that business.

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4) Accounts and security

To access certain features, you may need to create an account.

You agree to:

• Provide accurate information and keep it up to date.
• Keep your login credentials confidential.
• Take responsibility for all activity under your account.

We may suspend or terminate accounts (and remove content) where we reasonably believe there has been a breach of these Terms, misuse of the Site, or to protect the Community.

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5) Community rules (acceptable use)

You agree not to post, share, upload, send, or otherwise make available any content or conduct any activity that:

Unlawful / harmful

• Is illegal, fraudulent, or encourages illegal activity.
• Harasses, threatens, bullies, defames, or targets individuals or groups.
• Contains hate speech or discrimination.

Unsafe / dangerous

• Promotes unsafe working practices, dangerous instructions, or encourages bypassing safety standards.
• Encourages tampering with gas, electrical, structural, fire safety, or other high-risk systems without appropriate competence.

Spam / exploitation

• Spams, solicits, or promotes schemes, referral spam, or repetitive advertising.
• Impersonates others, misrepresents qualifications, or misleads users.

Inappropriate content

• Contains pornography or sexually explicit content.
• Contains excessive violence, racist or graphic content.

Security / platform abuse

• Attempts to hack, scrape, reverse engineer, overload, disrupt, or bypass security measures.
• Uploads malware or malicious code.
• Uses bots or automation to create accounts, post, or interact without permission.

Privacy

• Shares personal data of others without permission (doxxing), including phone numbers, addresses, private emails, or identifying details.

We can moderate at our discretion to keep the Community useful, respectful, and safe.

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6) User content and licences

“User Content” means anything you post or upload to the Site (posts, comments, photos, profile info, messages, etc.).

You retain ownership of your User Content, but by posting it you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable licence to host, store, use, reproduce, modify (for formatting and display), publish, display, and distribute your User Content solely for:

• operating and improving the Community,
• displaying your content to other users as part of normal Site functionality,
• promoting the Community (e.g., highlighting popular threads) unless you object via support[at]tradeguy.online.

You confirm that:

• you have the rights needed to post the content, and
• your content does not infringe anyone else’s intellectual property, privacy, or other rights.

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7) Copyright and takedowns

If you believe content on the Site infringes your copyright or other rights, contact support[at]tradeguy.online with:

• a description of the work,
• where the content appears (URL / screenshot),
• your contact details, and
• a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorised.

We may remove content while we review and may terminate repeat infringers where appropriate.

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8) Moderation, reporting, and enforcement

We may (but are not obliged to) monitor the Site and User Content.

We may:

• remove or edit content,
• restrict visibility,
• suspend or terminate accounts,
• limit features (posting, messaging, groups),
• report suspected illegal activity to relevant authorities.

If you see a problem, use reporting tools (where available) or email the support team.

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9) Private messaging and user interactions

Private messages and user-to-user interactions are your responsibility. Use caution when sharing information.

We do not verify members’ identities, qualifications, or claims. Any arrangements (jobs, meetups, buying/selling tools, services, etc.) are strictly between users unless we explicitly state otherwise.

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10) Information only – not professional advice

The Community may include contributions from experienced or qualified tradespeople. However, all content is provided for general information and discussion only.

• No client relationship: Content on the Site does not create a contractor–client, professional–client, advisory, or duty-of-care relationship between you and any user, or between you and us.
• No substitute for inspection: Advice given online may be incomplete because contributors cannot inspect the property, test systems, confirm materials, or assess risks.
• Regulations and guidance change: Laws, British Standards, manufacturer instructions, and local requirements can change and may apply differently depending on circumstances. Always verify with current official sources and product documentation.
• Safety-critical work: Gas, electrical, structural, fire safety, and other high-risk work may require competent persons, certification, inspection, permits, or compliance checks. Use appropriately qualified professionals where required.

You rely on content from the Community at your own risk, and you are responsible for checking suitability, safety, and compliance before acting.

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11) Third-party services and links

The Site may contain links to third-party sites, tools, products, or services. We do not control or endorse them and are not responsible for third-party content, availability, or practices.

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12) Intellectual property (our materials)

The Site, its software, branding, design, text (excluding User Content), logos, and other materials are owned by or licensed to us and protected by intellectual property laws.

You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of our Site or materials unless we give you written permission.

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13) Disclaimers

The Site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent allowed by law, we disclaim warranties of any kind, including fitness for purpose, non-infringement, and uninterrupted or error-free operation.

We do not guarantee:

• that posts are accurate, complete, or suitable for your situation,
• that the Site will always be available or secure,
• that defects will be corrected immediately.

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14) Limitation of liability

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be excluded under UK law (including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or fraud).

Subject to the above, to the fullest extent permitted by law:

• we will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or
• loss of profits, revenue, business, data, goodwill, or reputation, or
• any loss arising from reliance on User Content, user interactions, or third-party services.

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15) Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

• your use of the Site,
• your User Content,
• your breach of these Terms, or
• your infringement of any rights of another person.

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16) Termination

You may stop using the Site at any time. You can request account deletion by emailing support[at]tradeguy.online (subject to legal/operational retention requirements).

We may suspend or terminate your access immediately if we reasonably believe:

• you breached these Terms,
• your use poses a risk to others or the Site, or
• we must do so for legal or security reasons.

Sections that by nature should survive termination (e.g., licences, disclaimers, liability limits) will continue to apply.

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17) Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will update the “Last updated” date and may provide additional notice (e.g., a banner or email) where changes are material.

By continuing to use the Site after changes take effect, you agree to the updated Terms.

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18) Privacy

Your use of the Site is also governed by our Privacy Policy and (where applicable) Cookie Policy, which explain how we collect and use personal data.

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19) Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes, except where consumer protection laws require otherwise.

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20) Contact

For support, legal, or privacy enquiries: support[at]tradeguy.online

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Privacy Policy

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Who we are

This website is the TradeGuy Online Community, operated by Sitex Industrial Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”).

Website address: https://tradeguy.sitexdirect.com and https://tradeguy.online

Contact email: support[at]tradeguy.online

Data controller: Sitex Industrial Ltd (trading as TradeGuy Community).

Company number: 10610868

Registered Office: Unit 4, Maplebank Poultry Farm Knatts Valley Road, West Kingsdown Jct DA4 0JY

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal data when you use our community website.

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Community Features (accounts, profiles, posts, messages)

When you register and use the Community we may process:

• Account data: username, email address, password (stored in encrypted/hashed form), account status.
• Profile data: display name, avatar, bio, location (if you add it), trade/skills (if you add it), and any optional fields you complete.
• Community activity: forum posts, replies, reactions/likes, group activity, comments, uploads, and reports you submit.
• Messages: private messages (where enabled) and related metadata (sender/recipient/time).
• Technical data: IP address, device/browser information, server logs for security and troubleshooting.

Lawful bases (UK GDPR):

• Consent (for optional cookies/marketing where required)
• Contract (to provide your account and Community services)
• Legitimate interests (to run, secure, and moderate the Community)

Retention for community content

Forum posts, replies, and group content may remain visible even if you delete your account, because removing threads can break discussions. Where appropriate, we may anonymise content (for example, replacing your name with “Deleted user”) while retaining the post for continuity, unless you request removal and we determine removal is appropriate.

Backups may retain copies of data for a limited period before being overwritten.

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Google services used on our website

We use certain services provided by Google to help keep our website secure, understand how our website is used, and (where applicable) measure advertising performance.

1) Spam/fraud protection (Google reCAPTCHA)

We use Google reCAPTCHA to help protect our website from spam, fraud, and automated abuse. When you interact with forms or security checks on our site, reCAPTCHA may process information about your device and browsing activity to assess risk and help determine whether you are a human user. This processing is carried out for security purposes and to protect our services and customers.
We use Google as a processor for reCAPTCHA and have appropriate contractual terms in place.

Processor status : From 2 April 2026, Google processes reCAPTCHA data as a data processor on behalf of website owners for the purpose of providing the reCAPTCHA service.

Lawful basis (UK GDPR): Our legitimate interests in protecting our website, customers, and services from fraud and abuse.

International transfers: Your information may be processed outside the UK. Where required, appropriate safeguards will be used.

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2) Analytics (Google Analytics / Google Tag Manager) 

We may use analytics tools such as Google Analytics and/or Google Tag Manager to understand how visitors use our website (for example, which pages are visited and how our site performs). Where required, we will ask for your consent before placing analytics cookies or similar technologies. You can change your choices at any time via our cookie settings (if available).

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3) Advertising & conversion measurement (Google Ads) 

If we run Google advertising, we may use Google Ads cookies or similar technologies to measure the performance of our ads and improve our marketing. Where required, we will ask for your consent before using marketing cookies or for personalised advertising.

For visitors in the UK (and EEA), Google requires a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) to serve personalised ads.

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Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available from Automattic. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

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Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

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Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Cookie choices: Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before setting non-essential cookies (for example, analytics or marketing cookies). If we use a cookie banner/settings tool, you can update your choices at any time through those settings.

• Essential cookies for login/session/security (no consent required)
• Analytics/marketing cookies only with consent (where required)

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Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

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Who we share your data with

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

We may share personal data with service providers who help us operate the Site (for example: hosting providers, email delivery providers, security and spam prevention services such as Google reCAPTCHA, and analytics providers where enabled). These providers act under contractual obligations to protect your data.

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How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website we store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

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What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you.

This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

You may also request that we correct inaccurate data, object to or restrict certain processing, and (where applicable) request data portability. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw consent at any time.

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Where your data is sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Some of our service providers (including Google services described above) may process data outside the UK. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for international transfers.

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Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your data protection rights, contact:

Sitex Industrial Ltd

Email: support[at]tradeguy.online

You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe we have handled your personal data unlawfully.

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