Privacy Policy

1.   This Privacy Policy explains how Bear Business Finance Ltd collects, uses, stores and shares personal data when we process the personal data connected with our      customers, prospective customers, business partners (introducers and lenders), suppliers, business contacts, website visitors and job applicants. References in this        Privacy Policy to “we”, “our”, “the firm” and “Bear” are references to Bear Business Finance Ltd of 41 Commerce Road, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE2    6LR, registered under company number 10614202.

2.  We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

3. THE PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

i.    Identity data; Name, title, username or similar identifiers, date of birth. 

ii.   Contact data; Email address, residential postal addresses and personal telephone numbers.

iii.  Financial and business data; Including funding requirements, business information, bank statements, filed accounts, VAT returns, payment details and, where  relevant (e.g. sole traders), personal financial information necessary to assess finance applications. This may include credit information, property equity, homeowner status, pension values and county court judgments relating to individuals connected with our customers’ businesses (including directors, partners, officers, shareholders, senior managers, guarantors and beneficial owners of the business or any affiliated group business)

iv.   Transaction data; Details of payments to and from you and products or services provided.

v.    Profile data; Preferences, feedback, survey responses and communications history.

vi.   Usage data; Information about how you use our website, systems and services.

vii.  Marketing and communications data; Your preferences for receiving marketing and communications from us.

viii. For job applicants: CV, work history, references and, if applicable, background checks. We do not generally process special category data (such as health, ethnicity, political opinions or biometric data).

Please keep your information up to date by notifying us of changes at: operations@bearbusinessfinance.com

Where you provide Bear with personal data relating to other individuals connected to your company (i.e. employees, other staff, directors and/or shareholders), you are responsible for obtaining the appropriate permissions and consents from those individuals prior to sharing the personal data with us and will provide them with a copy of this Privacy Policy so they understand how their personal data will be processed.

4. LAWFUL BASES FOR PROCESSING

We only process personal data where we have a lawful basis under UK GDPR, including;

i.   your consent (where required)

ii.  performance of a contract or steps taken prior to entering a contract

iii. legal or regulatory obligations (including anti-money laundering requirements and fraud prevention)

iv. legitimate interests, where these are not overridden by your rights

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL DATA

We collect data through:

i.   Direct interactions (enquiries, applications, online forms, discussions, communications, marketing sign-ups)

ii.  Third parties, including business partners, introducers, lenders, fraud prevention agencies, analytics providers and publicly available sources (e.g. Companies                  House, CreditSafe)

iii. Website technologies, including cookies (see section 6)

6. COOKIES

Our website uses cookies to improve functionality and user experience. Details of cookies used and how to manage them are available via our cookie notice on the website.

7. HOW WE USE YOUR DATA

We use personal data to:

i.     assess and arrange finance and credit-related services

ii.    liaise with lenders, introducers and partners

iii.   comply with legal, regulatory and fraud prevention obligations

iv.   manage accounts and recover debts where applicable

v.    improve our services and website

vi.   provide marketing communications where permitted

vii.  manage our business operations

viii. consider any job application made to us

We do not sell personal data to third parties.

8. MARKETING

If you are an existing customer, we may contact you with information about similar products or services, where permitted by law. You can opt out at any time using unsubscribe links or by contacting us.

We do not identify individuals to advertisers but may use aggregated or anonymised data for marketing analysis.

9. DATA SHARING

We may share personal data with:

i.    lenders and finance providers 

ii.   other companies in the same group as Bear which may be able to provide finance products

iii.  business partners, introducers and professional partners

iv.  service providers (e.g. CRM, IT, compliance systems such as HubSpot)

v.   fraud prevention, credit reference and law enforcement agencies

vi.  professional advisers and regulators

All third parties are required to handle data securely and lawfully.

10. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS 

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections, in accordance with UK GDPR.

11. DATA SECURITY AND RETENTION

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data.

Personal data is retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal and regulatory requirements. 

12. YOUR RIGHTS

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

i.    access your personal data

ii.   request correction or deletion

iii.  restrict or object to processing

iv.  data portability

v.   withdraw consent (where applicable)

vi.  complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Requests can be made via email; operations@bearbusinessfinance.com

We aim to respond within one month, which may be extended by up to a further two months for complex requests.

13. AUTOMATED DECISION MAKING

We may use automated processing, including profiling, to assess eligibility for certain financial products and services.

This automated processing may analyse information such as financial data, credit data, business performance information, and other relevant details provided by you or obtained from third-party data sources (such as credit reference agencies).

Automated decision-making helps us:

i.    Assess initial eligibility for funding

ii.   Conduct risk assessments

iii.  Prevent fraud

iv.  Streamline our application process

Where an automated decision produces a legal effect or similarly significant effect (for example, where an application is declined), you have the right to:

i.   Request human intervention

ii.  Express your point of view

iii. Request a review of the decision

If you would like to request a review of an automated decision, please contact us using the details provided in this Privacy Policy.

14. CREDIT REFERENCING FOR FINANCE APPLICATIONS

To provide the broker services, both ourselves and our lenders will carry out various checks and searches in respect of the business and individuals connected with the business (including directors, partners, officers, shareholders, senior managers, guarantors and beneficial owners of the business or any affiliated group business).

We, and our lenders, may carry out e-verification checks which may leave either a ‘soft footprint’ or a ‘hard footprint’ the credit file of other individuals connected with the business. We, and our lenders, will only conduct a check which leaves a hard footprint (which can be visible to other organisations and may affect credit score) where it is considered proportionate to do so. Where reasonably possible, we operate to limit the impact of the checks upon each individual’s credit file, however, the risk of adverse credit consequences increases according to the number of applications made to different lenders and varies according to the specific lenders.

Both ourselves and our lenders may obtain personal data about individuals connected to a business from credit reference agencies (“CRA”s). Credit records include searches made and information given by other businesses. Details of our searches may be kept by the CRA and will be seen by other organisations that make searches with the agency for the purposes of credit assessment, debt recovery, management of accounts, prevention of money laundering and fraud, and statistical analysis.

By providing the personal data of any individuals connected to your business, such as date of birth and home address (current and for past 6 years), you are aware that we, and our lenders, will use that information to conduct the checks set out in our Engagement Letter and Terms of Business, and that it is your responsibility to obtain the appropriate prior permissions and consents.

If you make an application for finance via us which includes finance for affiliated group companies or somehow involves affiliated group companies, you must obtain all the necessary permissions and consents from each relevant group company, and the individuals connected to the company, to share the information with us, prior to sharing it with us.

The three main CRAs in the UK (Call credit, Equifax and Experian) have produced a Credit Reference Agency Information Notice which explains how these agencies use and share personal data which they receive about you. The identities of the CRAs, and the ways in which they use and share personal data, are explained in more detail at www.equifax.co.uk/crain. We use CreditSafe to perform personal searches on Individuals. Their privacy policy can be found at https://www.creditsafe.com/us/en/product/privacy/privacy-policy.html.

15. COMPLAINTS

If you have any concerns about how we collect, use or protect your personal data, you may submit a data protection complaint to us by emailing operations@bearbusinessfinance.com or writing to Bear Business Finance Ltd, 41 Commerce Road, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE2 6LR. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, investigate the matter and provide you with the outcome as soon as reasonably practicable. If you remain dissatisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). You can find further information about making a complaint on the ICO's website.

16. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be published on our website.

Version 2.0 | September 2026