Privacy policy

Last updated: September 2026

Ashes into Glass is a trading name of Barleylands Glassworks Ltd, company registration number 03389725.

We respect your privacy and take the protection of your personal information seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit our website, contact us, place an order or use our services, how we use that information, who we may share it with and the rights you have.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, Barleylands Glassworks Ltd is the data controller responsible for your personal information.

Information We Collect

The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with us.

It may include:

your name, address, delivery address, email address and telephone number;
information about your order, including the jewellery or other items ordered, gemstone colour, engraving, ring size and other choices or instructions;
information required to identify and manage the cremation ashes entrusted to us, including the name of the person or pet the ashes relate to;
payment and transaction information;
correspondence with us by email, telephone, WhatsApp, post, through our website or in person;
information provided when you visit our showroom or workshops;
information received from a funeral home or other organisation through which an order or enquiry has been made;
account information if you create an online account;
information about how you use our website, including your IP address, browser, device and pages viewed; and
marketing preferences and information about how you interact with communications from us.

We do not normally receive or store your full payment card details. Payments made through our website are processed by our payment providers.

Information About Your Order

Creating Ashes into Glass jewellery requires us to keep accurate records connecting each order with the cremation ashes entrusted to us.

These records may include your details, your order number, the name of the person or pet whose ashes have been provided, your jewellery choices, engraving, correspondence and information about the progress of your order.

We use this information to identify and care for the ashes entrusted to us and to ensure that each order is created and returned to the correct customer.

Information relating solely to someone who has died is not normally personal information under UK data protection law. However, where that information forms part of a customer order or can be connected with a living person, we treat the complete record carefully and securely.

How We Collect Your Information

We may receive personal information:

directly from you when you place an order, contact us, visit us or provide information to us;
through our website and online store;
from a funeral home, crematorium or other referral partner involved in your enquiry or order;
from service providers that help us operate our website and provide our services; and
automatically through cookies and similar technologies when you use our website.

How We Use Your Information

We only use personal information where we have a lawful reason to do so.

To Provide Our Services and Fulfil Your Order

We use your information to:

process and manage your order;
send you an ordering pack;
identify and record cremation ashes received by us;
communicate with you about your design and order;
obtain your approval where required;
create, engrave, size and finish your jewellery;
process payments;
arrange collection or delivery;
deal with repairs, returns, guarantees or other aftercare; and
provide customer service.

Our lawful basis for this processing is normally that it is necessary to enter into or perform our contract with you.

To Communicate With You

We may contact you about an enquiry, an existing order, payments, delivery, aftercare or another matter connected with our services.

We do this where necessary to perform our contract with you or because it is in our legitimate interests to provide effective customer service and operate our business.

To Operate and Improve Our Business

We may use information to:

maintain our business and customer records;
improve our products, services and website;
understand how customers use our website;
train and support our team;
prevent fraud and protect our systems;
manage complaints and disputes; and
protect our legal rights.

Where appropriate, we rely on our legitimate interests in operating, protecting and improving our business. We consider those interests against your rights and interests before relying on this basis.

To Meet Legal and Regulatory Requirements

We may use and retain information where necessary to comply with legal, accounting, tax or regulatory requirements or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Our lawful basis is compliance with a legal obligation or, where appropriate, our legitimate interests.

Funeral Homes and Referral Partners

Some customers are introduced to Ashes into Glass through a funeral home or other referral partner.

Where this happens, the funeral home may provide us with information needed to deal with your enquiry or order, such as your name, contact details and information about the product or service requested.

Depending on the type of order, we may also communicate with the funeral home about the progress of the order, payment or delivery.

We only use information received in this way for the purposes connected with your enquiry, order and our relationship with the referring organisation.

Payments

Payments made through our website are processed using specialist payment providers, including services made available through Shopify.

Payment providers may collect information such as your card details, billing information and transaction details in accordance with their own privacy policies.

We receive information confirming your payment and transaction, but we do not normally receive or retain your complete payment card number.

Where you use our interest-free payment plan, we retain information needed to manage the instalments associated with your order.

Marketing

If you have chosen to hear from us, we may send you information about Ashes into Glass, our products, services, events or other news.

In some circumstances, the law also allows us to contact existing customers about similar products or services where the requirements for doing so are met.

You can stop receiving marketing communications at any time by:

using the unsubscribe link in a marketing email; or
contacting us at studio@ashesintoglass.co.uk.

Stopping marketing communications will not prevent us from contacting you about an existing enquiry, order, payment, delivery or other service-related matter.

We do not sell customer mailing lists to third parties.

Cookies, Analytics and Advertising

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies.

Some are necessary for the website and online store to function. Others may help us understand how people use our website, measure the effectiveness of advertising or show relevant advertising.

Depending on your cookie choices, information about your use of our website may be processed by organisations that provide analytics, advertising and website services to us.

Where consent is required for a cookie or similar technology, it will not be used until you have given the necessary consent.

You can manage your choices through the cookie controls available on our website.

Shopify

Our online store is powered by Shopify.

Shopify processes information about visitors and customers to provide the website, checkout and related services to us.

Information submitted through our online store may therefore be shared with and processed by Shopify and its service providers.

Shopify may also process information for purposes for which it acts independently as a data controller. You can find further information in Shopify's own Consumer Privacy Policy.

Who We Share Information With

We only share personal information where there is a legitimate reason to do so.

This may include:

Shopify and other website and ecommerce providers;
payment processors;
postal, courier and delivery companies;
IT, software, database and cloud-service providers;
email and communications providers;
analytics and advertising providers where you have given any consent required;
specialist jewellery makers and other suppliers involved in creating or servicing our products, where information is necessary for them to carry out their work;
funeral homes or referral partners where they are involved in your order;
professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, solicitors or auditors; and
government, regulatory, law-enforcement or other authorities where required by law.

We only provide service providers with information reasonably necessary for them to provide their services.

Our cremation-ashes processes are carried out by Ashes into Glass at Barleylands Glassworks. Cremation ashes are not transferred to advertising, technology or other service providers.

International Transfers

Some organisations that provide technology, ecommerce, payment, analytics or other services to us may process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we take steps to ensure that an appropriate level of protection is in place.

This may include transferring information to a country recognised by the UK as providing an adequate level of data protection or using approved contractual safeguards for international transfers.

How Long We Keep Your Information

We do not keep personal information for longer than we reasonably need it.

How long we retain information depends on the reason we collected it and may include:

keeping order and customer records for as long as reasonably necessary to provide our service, maintain an accurate history of the jewellery we have created, provide aftercare and honour our guarantees;
retaining transaction, accounting and tax information for the periods required by law;
retaining correspondence where reasonably necessary to deal with enquiries, complaints, guarantees or legal claims;
retaining marketing information until you unsubscribe or we determine that it is no longer appropriate to retain it; and
retaining website and cookie information in accordance with the relevant cookie or technology's retention period.

Where information is no longer required, it is deleted, anonymised or otherwise securely disposed of where appropriate.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure or alteration.

Access to customer and order information is limited to people who need it to carry out their work.

No method of storing or transmitting information can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we take the security of the information entrusted to us seriously.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have the right to:

ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances;
ask us to restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances;
object to certain uses of your personal information;
receive certain information in a portable format or ask us to transfer it to another organisation where the law provides this right; and
withdraw your consent where we rely on consent.

These rights are not absolute and can depend on the circumstances and our reason for processing the information.

You have the right to object at any time to the use of your personal information for direct marketing.

If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact us using the details below.

We may need to confirm your identity before dealing with a request.

Children

Our website and services are not intended specifically for children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children where it is not appropriate to do so.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us in circumstances where they should not have done so, please contact us.

Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations.

Those organisations are responsible for their own privacy practices. If you follow a link to another website, we recommend reviewing its privacy information.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we use your personal information, please contact us first and we will try to resolve it.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's data protection regulator.

Information about the Information Commissioner's Office and how to make a complaint is available at ico.org.uk.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our services, technology, business practices or legal requirements.

When we make changes, we will publish the updated policy on our website and change the date shown at the top of this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, would like to exercise your data protection rights or have a concern about how your information is being used, please contact us:

Ashes into Glass
Barleylands Glassworks
Barleylands Craft Village
Barleylands Road
Billericay
Essex
CM11 2UD
United Kingdom

Telephone: 01268 293000
Email: studio@ashesintoglass.co.uk