Business Membership Terms

1. Membership and approval

Submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance. Southport Trades may review the information supplied, request clarification and accept, reject, suspend or remove a profile where reasonably necessary to protect customers, the website or the quality of the service.

A category is intended to have a maximum of ten active participating businesses. Availability of a place is therefore not guaranteed.

2. Six-month free period and annual fee

For approved launch members, the first six months of membership are free and begin when the profile is approved and activated, not when the application form is submitted.

After the free period, continued membership is currently £50 per year, unless a different price is clearly agreed before renewal. Any VAT, if applicable, will be stated when charged. Membership is not automatically guaranteed beyond the current paid or free period.

3. What membership includes

• A Southport Trades business profile in the approved category or categories.
• Business logo or name treatment, contact details, services, coverage and other approved profile information.
• A clickable link to the member's own website where supplied.
• Matching customer enquiries by email while the membership is active.
• Optional WhatsApp lead alerts where the member opts in and that service is available.
• No separate Southport Trades charge per lead and no Southport Trades commission on work won.

Website links from paid/member profiles may be marked as sponsored or otherwise qualified for search-engine compliance. Membership does not purchase or guarantee search-engine ranking, link value or SEO performance.

4. Lead distribution and listing order

Matching leads are intended to be sent to all eligible active members assigned to the relevant trade category, subject to technical availability and the category limit. A member is free to ignore a lead it does not wish to pursue.

Standard business listings may appear in a randomised order so one standard member does not permanently occupy the first position. Southport Trades may offer or apply a Featured status, in which case Featured profiles appear before standard listings. Featured status does not alter which eligible businesses receive a matching lead.

We do not guarantee a minimum number, frequency, quality or value of enquiries.

5. Member responsibilities

You must ensure the information supplied for your profile is accurate, lawful and kept reasonably up to date. You are responsible for holding any qualifications, registrations, licences, approvals and insurance required for the work you offer and for complying with consumer, health and safety, tax and other laws that apply to your business.

You must not make false or misleading claims, use content you do not have permission to use, impersonate another business or use Southport Trades for unlawful activity.

6. Customer data and lead handling

Customer contact information is supplied solely so you can assess and respond to the customer's stated enquiry. You must keep it secure, restrict access to people who need it, and retain it only as long as reasonably necessary.

You must not sell, trade, publish or redistribute customer lead data. You must not add a customer to unrelated marketing lists simply because you received a Southport Trades lead. If you want to use customer information for another purpose, you are responsible for having an appropriate lawful basis and complying with UK data-protection and electronic-marketing law.

Once you receive and use a lead to decide whether or how to respond, you are responsible for your own data-protection obligations in relation to that information.

7. Email and WhatsApp delivery

Email is the primary lead channel. A recorded status such as “accepted” means the website successfully handed the message to its outgoing mail system; it is not a guarantee that the recipient mailbox ultimately delivered or displayed the message.

WhatsApp alerts are optional and depend on third-party platforms and an eligible member number. Delivery can be delayed, unavailable or changed by those providers. Members must tell us promptly if their lead email or WhatsApp number changes or stops working.

8. Content licence

You confirm that you have the right to supply any logo, photographs, text, trade marks or other material submitted for your profile. You grant Southport Trades a non-exclusive licence to display, resize, format and use that material as reasonably necessary to operate and promote your listing while it is active.

9. Suspension, removal and cancellation

We may pause or remove a profile or lead delivery where membership expires, contact information repeatedly fails, information appears misleading, serious complaints arise, a business ceases trading, required qualifications appear invalid, or the member materially breaches these terms.

A business may ask to leave the service at any time. Unless otherwise agreed, fees already paid for an active annual period are not refundable simply because the member chooses to leave part-way through that period, except where required by law.

10. No guarantee of business or SEO results

Southport Trades will make reasonable efforts to maintain the website and distribute eligible enquiries, but does not guarantee traffic, rankings, impressions, clicks, enquiries, responses, appointments, sales or revenue. Search engines and third-party messaging/email providers are outside our control.

11. Liability

Each member contracts directly with its customer and is responsible for its own quotations, work, advice, staff, subcontractors, payments, warranties and legal obligations. Southport Trades is not responsible for the member's work or customer contract.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Southport Trades' aggregate liability arising directly from a business membership will not exceed the greater of £50 or the membership fees paid by that member in the preceding 12 months. Nothing excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

12. Changes, contact and governing law

We may update these terms where the service, pricing, law or platform changes. Material changes affecting an active paid membership will be communicated where reasonably practicable.

Questions about membership can be sent to hello@southporttrades.co.uk.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory legal rights that apply.