Terms and conditions

Terms & Conditions

The following terms and conditions apply to all services, including website development and design services, (the Services) provided by Upspark Digital Limited (Upspark Digital) to the Client, in conjunction with any relevant quotation provided to the Client by Upspark Digital (Terms), unless otherwise agreed in writing. Acceptance of a quote, purchase and/or use of the Services shall be considered acceptance of the Terms.

  1. Charges

Pay Monthly Website Rental Charges

Charges for the Services are defined in the project quotation that the Client receives from Upspark Digital via email. Quotations are valid for a period of 30 days. Upspark Digital reserves the right to alter a quotation or decline to provide the relevant Services

Unless agreed otherwise with the Client, all website design services require an advance payment of a minimum of one month’s payment. For example, if the monthly agreed fee is £150 then the first monthly payment of £150 would be immediately due on contract acceptance. The subsequent monthly payments will automatically be debited from the clients account on or around the same date each month as the initial payment. This will happen on a recurring monthly basis until such time that both the Client and Upspark Digital agree to cease this agreement.

The Client agrees to reimburse Upspark Digital for any additional expenses necessary for the completion of the work. Expenses may include (but are not limited to) purchase of domain names, special fonts, logo creation and stock photography.

All Charges do not contain VAT. Upspark Digital are not registered for VAT.

Bespoke Services

Charges for Bespoke Services such as GETS LEADS or a bespoke High Performance website are defined in the project quotation / proposal that the Client receives from Upspark Digital via email. Quotations are valid for a period of 30 days. Upspark Digital reserves the right to alter a quotation or decline to provide the relevant Services.

Unless agreed otherwise with the Client, all bespoke services require an advance payment of 50% of the total agreed project cost. For example, if the total project cost is £4000 then the deposit amount that would be immediately due on contract acceptance would be £2000. The subsequent 50% will automatically be debited from the clients account on the date of project handover which will have been agreed in advance. 

The Client agrees to reimburse Upspark Digital for any additional expenses necessary for the completion of the work. Expenses may include (but are not limited to) purchase of domain names, special fonts, logo creation and stock photography.

All Charges do not contain VAT. Upspark Digital are not registered for VAT.

Maintenance Packages

Charges for Maintenance packages are defined in the project agreement that the Client receives from Upspark Digital via email. Quotations are valid for a period of 30 days. Upspark Digital reserves the right to alter a quotation or decline to provide the relevant Services.

Included in some monthly maintenance / care packages is a free content update. This includes making minor tweaks to existing content or uploading new images to the pre-existing recent installations page. All content updates are at the sole discretion of Upspark Digital and where the client asks for content to be uploaded which is deemed to fall outside of this free service then a charge will be applied for this service. This charge will be discussed and agreed with the client ahead of any works being carried out.

Unless agreed otherwise with the Client, all maintenance packages require an advance payment of one month’s payment. For example, if the monthly agreed fee is £150 then the first monthly payment of £150 would be immediately due on contract acceptance. The subsequent monthly payments will automatically be debited from the clients account on or around the same date each month as the initial payment. This will happen on a recurring monthly basis until such time that both the Client and Upspark Digital agree to cease this agreement.

The Client agrees to reimburse Upspark Digital for any additional expenses necessary for the completion of the work. Expenses may include (but are not limited to) purchase of domain names, special fonts, logo creation and stock photography.

All Charges do not contain VAT. Upspark Digital are not registered for VAT.

  1. Invoicing and payment

Upspark Digital shall submit invoices in line with the timescales above. Invoices are sent via email. Payment is due on receipt of the invoice by the Client.

Payment for services are made by card or direct debit. Bank details will be made available on invoices.

If the Client fails to make any payment due to Upspark Digital by the due date for payment, then, without limiting Upspark Digital’s remedies under or in connection with these terms and conditions, the Client shall pay interest on the overdue amount at the rate of 4% per annum above the Bank of England’s base rate from time to time. Such interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgement. The Client shall pay the interest together with the overdue amount.

Accounts unpaid thirty (30) days after the date of invoice will be considered in default. If the Client in default maintains any information or files on Upspark Digital’s web space, Upspark Digital will, at its discretion, remove all such material from its web space. Upspark Digital is not responsible for any loss of data incurred due to the removal of the service. Removal of such material does not relieve the Client of the obligation to pay any outstanding charges assessed to the Client’s account. Clients with accounts in default agree to pay Upspark Digital reasonable expenses, including legal fees and costs for collection by third-party agencies, incurred by Upspark Digital in enforcing these Terms.

  1. Client Review

Upspark Digital will provide the Client with an opportunity to review the appearance and content of works being carried out during the design phase and once the overall development is completed. At the completion of the project, such materials will be deemed to be accepted and approved unless the Client notifies Upspark Digital otherwise within ten (10) days of the date the materials are made available to the Client.

  1. Turnaround Time and Content Control

Upspark Digital will install and publicly post or supply the Client’s website by the date specified in the project proposal, or at the date agreed with Client upon Upspark Digital receiving initial payment, unless a delay is specifically requested by the Client and agreed by Upspark Digital.

In return, the Client agrees to provide Upspark Digital promptly with all necessary co-operation, information, materials and data, access to staff and timely decision-making which may be reasonably required by Upspark Digital for the performance of the Services. This shall include the Client delegating a single individual as a primary contact to aid Upspark Digital with progressing the commission in a satisfactory and expedient manner.

During the project, Upspark Digital will require the Client to provide website content; text, images, movies and sound files, along with any relevant background information.

  1. Failure to provide required website content

Upspark Digital is a small business, and to remain efficient we must ensure that work we have programmed is carried out at the scheduled time. On occasions we may have to reject offers for other work and enquiries to ensure that your work is completed at the time arranged.

This is why we ask that the Client provides all the required information in advance. On any occasion where progress cannot be made with the Client’s website because we have not been given the required information in the agreed time frame, and we are delayed as result, we reserve the right to impose a surcharge of up to 25% of the Charges. If the Services involve Search Engine Optimisation we need the text content for the Client’s site in advance so that the SEO can be planned and completed efficiently.

If the Client agrees to provide us with the required information and subsequently fail to do within one week of project commencement we reserve the right to terminate the project. Any fees already paid by the Client to Upspark Digital will not be reimbursed.

NOTE: Text content must be delivered as a Microsoft Word, email (or similar) document with the pages in the supplied document representing the content of the relevant pages on your website. These pages must have the same titles as the agreed website pages. Contact us if you need clarification on this.

  1. Web Browsers

Upspark Digital makes every effort to ensure websites are designed to be viewed by the majority of visitors. Websites are designed to work with the most popular current browsers (e.g. Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge etc.). The Client agrees that Upspark Digital cannot guarantee correct functionality with all browser software across different operating systems.

Upspark Digital cannot accept responsibility for web pages which do not display acceptably in new versions of browsers released after the website has been designed and handed over to the Client. As such, Upspark Digital reserves the right to quote for any work involved in changing the website design or website code for it to work with updated browser software.

  1. Termination

Termination of services by the Client must be requested in a written notice and will be effective on receipt of such notice. Email or telephone requests for termination of services will not be honoured until and unless also confirmed in writing. The Client will be invoiced for work completed (including any expenses incurred, as outlined in clause 1) to the date of first notice of cancellation for payment in full within thirty (30) days. The Client must give Upspark Digital two months’ notice of intention to cancel.

Pay Monthly Rental Websites

The Client can request to keep the website design and content after cancellation. The acceptance of this request is made at the sole discretion of UpSpark Digital. UpSpark Digital reserve the right to charge a fee for the transfer of IP and digital assets such as, but not limited to, the website design and content. The amount payable by the Client would be decided by UpSpark Digital at the time of the request.

  1. Indemnity

All Upspark Digital services may be used for lawful purposes only. The Client agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Upspark Digital against all damages, losses and expenses arising as a result of any and all actions or claims resulting from the Client’s use of Upspark Digital’s service.

  1. Intellectual property

Background IP means any IP Rights, other than Foreground IP, that is used in connection with these Terms.

Foreground IP means any IP Rights that arise or are obtained or developed by, or by a contractor on behalf of, either party in respect of the services and deliverables under or in connection with these Terms.

IP Rights means patents, utility models, rights to inventions, copyright and neighbouring and related rights, trade marks and service marks, business names and domain names, rights in get-up and trade dress, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off or unfair competition, rights in designs, database rights, rights to use, and protect the confidentiality of, confidential information (including know-how and trade secrets), and all other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications and rights to apply for and be granted, renewals or extensions of, and rights to claim priority from, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which subsist or will subsist now or in the future in any part of the world.

All Background IP, including but not limited to any IP Rights in data, files and graphic logos provided to Upspark Digital by the Client, is and shall remain the exclusive property of the party owning it (or, where applicable, the third party from whom its right to use the Background IP has derived).

The Client hereby grants to Upspark Digital a non-exclusive licence to publish and use such material, which may be sub-licensed to any contractor acting on behalf of Upspark Digital. The Client must obtain permission and rights to use any information or files that are copyrighted by a third party. The Client is further responsible for granting Upspark Digital permission and rights for use of the same. A contract for website design and/or placement shall be regarded as a guarantee by the Client to Upspark Digital that all such permissions and authorities have been obtained. Evidence of permissions and authorities may be requested. The Client shall indemnify and hold harmless Upspark Digital against all damages, losses and expenses arising as a result of any and all actions or claims that any materials provided to Upspark Digital by or on behalf of the Client infringe the IP Rights of a third party.

All Foreground IP shall vest in and be owned absolutely by the party creating or developing it. Upspark Digital hereby grants the Client a non-exclusive licence of such Foreground IP for the purpose of operating the website. This will cease at the termination of the contract, unless otherwise agreed by both the Client and Upspark Digital.

  1. Confidentiality

Each party (the Receiving Party) shall use its reasonable endeavours to keep confidential all information and documentation disclosed by the other party (the Disclosing Party), before or after the date of these Terms, to the Receiving Party or of which the Receiving Party becomes aware which in each case relates to any software, operations, products, processes, dealings, trade secrets or the business of the Disclosing Party (including without limitation all associated software, specifications, designs and graphics) or which is identified by the Disclosing Party as confidential (the Confidential Information) and will not use any Confidential Information for any purpose other than the performance of its obligations under these Terms. The Receiving Party shall not disclose Confidential Information to any third party without the prior written consent of the Disclosing Party. This clause shall survive the termination of these Terms for whatever cause.

During the term of these Terms the Receiving Party may disclose the Confidential Information to its employees and sub-contractors (any such person being referred to as the Recipient) to the extent that it is reasonably necessary for the purposes of these Terms. The Receiving Party shall procure that each Recipient is made aware of and complies with all the Receiving Party’s obligations of confidentiality under these Terms as if the Recipient was a party to these Terms.

The obligations in this clause 10 shall not apply to any Confidential Information which is:

  • at the date of these Terms already in, or at any time after the date of these Terms comes into, the public domain other than through breach of these Terms by the Receiving Party or any Recipient;
  • furnished to the Receiving Party or any Recipient without restriction by a third party having a bona fide right to do so; or
  • required to be disclosed by the Receiving Party by law or regulatory requirements, provided that the Receiving Party shall give the Disclosing Party as much notice as reasonably practicable of the requirement for such disclosure.

All tangible forms of Confidential Information, including, without limitation, all summaries, copies, excerpts of any Confidential Information whether prepared by the Disclosing Party or not, shall be the sole property of the Disclosing Party, and shall be immediately delivered by the Receiving Party to the Disclosing Party upon the Disclosing Party’s request or the termination of these Terms (whichever is earlier). The Receiving Party shall not copy, reproduce, publish or distribute in whole or in part any Confidential Information without the prior written consent of the Disclosing Party.

  1. Data protection

For the purposes of this clause, Data Protection Law means the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the Data Protection Act 2018, any other data protection and/or privacy laws applicable to Upspark Digital, and any applicable laws replacing, amending, extending, re-enacting or consolidating the above from time to time.

Both parties will comply with all applicable requirements of Data Protection Law. This clause is in addition to, and does not relieve, remove or replace, a party’s obligations or rights under Data Protection Law.

The Client will comply with Data Protection Law in connection with the collection, storage and processing of personal data (which shall include you providing all the required fair processing information to, and obtaining all necessary consent from, data subjects), and the exercise and performance of your respective rights and obligations under these terms and conditions, including all instructions given by the Client to Upspark Digital and maintaining all relevant regulatory registrations and notifications as required under Data Protection Law.

The parties acknowledge that if Upspark Digital processes any personal data on the Client’s behalf when performing its obligations under this agreement, the Client is the controller and Upspark Digital is the processor for the purposes of Data Protection Law.

The scope, nature and purpose of processing by Upspark Digital, the duration of the processing and the types of personal data and categories of data subject are set out in our Privacy Notice and the project quotation.

In relation to the processing of personal data under these terms and conditions, Upspark Digital shall:

  • process personal data on the Client’s behalf only on and in accordance with the Client’s documented instructions as set out in this clause 11 (as updated from time to time by agreement between the parties), unless required to do so by applicable law; in such a case, we shall inform you of that legal requirement before processing, unless that law prohibits such information on important grounds of public interest;
  • ensure that persons authorised to process personal data have committed themselves to confidentiality or are under an appropriate statutory obligation of confidentiality;
  • implement and maintain appropriate technical and organisational measures in relation to the processing of personal data; you hereby acknowledge that you are satisfied that our processing operations and technical and organisational measures are suitable for the purposes for which you propose to use our services and engage us to process the personal data;
  • promptly refer all data subject requests we receive to you and, taking into account the nature of the processing, assist you by appropriate technical and organisational measures, insofar as this is possible, for the fulfilment of your obligation to respond to requests for exercising the data subject’s rights laid down in Chapter III of the GDPR;
  • assist you in ensuring compliance with the obligations pursuant to Articles 32 to 36 of the GDPR, taking into account the nature of processing and the information available to us and only in the event that you cannot reasonably be expected to comply with the requirements of Articles 32 to 36 without our information and/or assistance (e.g. you do not possess or otherwise have access to the information requested). We may charge our reasonable costs on a time and materials basis in providing you with such assistance;
  • retain personal data in accordance with the retention periods set out in our Privacy Notice;
  • make available to you all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the obligations laid down in Article 28(3) and allow for and contribute to audits, including inspections, conducted by you or another auditor mandated by you provided: (i) you give us at least 7 days prior notice of an audit or inspection being required; (ii) you give us a reasonable period of time to comply with any information request; (iii) ensuring that all information obtained or generated by you or your auditor(s) in connection with such information requests, inspections and audits is kept strictly confidential; (iv) ensuring that such audit or inspection is undertaken during normal business hours, with minimal disruption to our business; (v) no more than one audit and one information request is permitted per calendar year; and (vi) paying our reasonable costs for assisting with the provision of information and allowing for and contributing to inspections and audits;
  • take reasonable steps to ensure the reliability of anyone who we allow to have access to personal data, ensuring that in each case access is limited to those individuals who need to know or access the relevant personal data, as necessary for the purposes of the Terms; and
  • notify the Client without delay (and if possible within 24 hours) upon us or any sub-processor becoming aware of a personal data breach affecting personal data processed on the Client’s behalf, providing the Client with sufficient information to allow you to meet any obligations to report or inform data subjects of the personal data breach.

The Client hereby gives Upspark Digital consent to engage sub-processors for processing of personal data on your behalf. We shall inform the Client before transferring any personal data processed on your behalf to a new sub-processor. Following receipt of such information you shall notify us if you object to the new sub-processor. If you do not object to the sub-processor within seven calendar days of receiving the information, you shall be deemed to have accepted the sub-processor. If you have raised a reasonable objection to the new sub-processor, and the parties have failed to agree on a solution within reasonable time, the Client shall have the right to terminate these Terms with a notice period determined by the Client, without prejudice to any other remedies available under law or contract. During the notice period, we shall not transfer any personal data processed on the Client’s behalf to the sub-processor.

Upspark Digital shall enter into appropriate written agreements with all of its sub-processors on terms substantially similar to these Terms. We shall remain primarily liable to the Client for the performance or non-performance of the sub-processors’ obligations. Upon your request, we are obliged to provide information regarding any sub-processor, including name, address and the processing carried out by the sub-processor.

We will not transfer personal data processed on your behalf to a country outside the United Kingdom which is not recognised by the European Commission to have an adequate level of protection in accordance with Data Protection Law unless the transfer is effected by such legally enforceable mechanism(s) for transfers of personal data as may be permitted under Data Protection Laws from time to time.

  1. Standard Media Delivery

Unless otherwise specified in the project quotation, this Agreement assumes that any text will be provided by the Client in electronic format (Word or Google Docs delivered via USB drive, e-mail or FTP) and that all photographs and other graphics will be provided physically in high quality print suitable for scanning or electronically in .gif, .jpeg, .png or .tiff format. Although every reasonable attempt shall be made by Upspark Digital to return to the Client any images or printed material provided for use in creation of the Client’s website, such return cannot be guaranteed.

  1. Design Credit and Marketing

A link to Upspark Digital will appear in either small type or by a small graphic at the bottom of the Client’s website. If a graphic is used, it will be designed to fit in with the overall site design. If a client requests that the design credit be removed, a nominal fee of 10% of the total yearly (12 months) charge will be applied.

The Client agrees that the website developed for the Client may be presented in Upspark Digital’s portfolio, and hereby grants Upspark Digital a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use its name, logo and branding for advertising, marketing and promotional activities.

  1. Third Party Servers

Upspark Digital designs and tests websites to work on its own servers, and cannot guarantee correct functionality if the Client wishes to use a third-party server. In the event that the Client is using a third-party server, it is the responsibility of the Client and any third party host to ensure that the server is compatible with the website. Upspark Digital will assist the Client to configure the server if this is required. However, this may be subject to additional charges.

  1. Post-Placement Alterations

In the event that the Client wishes to make alterations to the website once installed, the Client agrees to give Upspark Digital the opportunity to quote to provide such alterations. There is no obligation on the Client to accept the quote provided by Upspark Digital.

Upspark Digital cannot accept responsibility for any alterations caused by the Client or a third party occurring to the website once installed. Such alterations include, but are not limited to additions, modifications or deletions.

  1. Domain Names

Upspark Digital may purchase domain names on behalf of the Client. Payment in relation to, and renewal of, those domain names is the responsibility of the Client. The loss, cancellation or otherwise of the domain brought about by non or late payment is not the responsibility of Upspark Digital. The Client should keep a record of the due dates for payment to ensure that payment is received in good time.

  1. Third Party Products

Any third party software which Upspark Digital agrees to provide shall be supplied in accordance with the relevant licensor’s standard terms. The one-off licence fee for such third party software is included in the Charges payable pursuant to clause 1.

  1. General

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all previous representations, promises, assurances, warranties, understandings and agreements between them, whether written or oral, relating to their subject matter.

A failure or delay by a party to exercise any right or remedy provided under this agreement or by law shall not constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it prevent or restrict any further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.

These Terms do not give rise to rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any part of these Terms.

No variation of these Terms shall be effective unless it is in writing and signed by the parties (or their authorised representatives).

A notice given to a party under or in connection with these Terms shall be in writing and in English, by email or next working day delivery service. Notices to the Client shall be sent to the email address or address last notified to Upspark Digital. Notices to Upspark Digital shall be sent to the email address or address set out at upsparkdigital.com/contact

  1. Liability

Nothing in these Terms shall operate to exclude or limit either party’s liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by its negligence; (b) fraud; or (c) any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Upspark Digital shall not be liable under or in connection with these Terms or any collateral contract for any: (a) loss of revenue; (b) loss of actual or anticipated profits; (c) loss of contracts; (d) loss of business; (e) loss of opportunity; (f) loss of goodwill or reputation; (g) loss of, damage to or corruption of data; (h) any indirect or consequential loss; (i) loss or damage caused by any inaccuracy, omission, delay or error, whether as a result of negligence or other cause in the production of the website; or (j) loss or damage to the Client’s artwork/photos supplied for the website, whether as a result of negligence or otherwise.

The entire liability of Upspark Digital to the Client in respect of any claim whatsoever or breach of this Agreement, whether or not arising out of negligence, shall be limited to the charges paid for the Services under this Agreement in respect of which the breach has arisen.

  1. Severability

In the event any one or more of the provisions of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall be unimpaired and the Agreement shall not be void for this reason alone. Such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a mutually acceptable valid, legal and enforceable provision, which comes closest to the intention of the parties underlying the original provision.

  1. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.

Each party irrevocably agrees that the courts of Scotland shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with these Terms or their subject matter or formation