Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") form a binding agreement between Staie Ltd ("we", "us", "our") and you ("you", "Customer"). By submitting an application, completing onboarding, providing payment details, or otherwise using our services, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use our services.

Staie Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales, company number 17195211. Our registered email address is contact@staieltd.co.uk.

These Terms apply to both consumer and business customers. Where any provision applies only to one or the other, this is stated expressly. Nothing in these Terms removes or limits your statutory rights as a consumer under English law.

We design, build, host, and maintain custom websites, including community forums, business sites, landing pages, and other online platforms (the "Service"). A standard subscription typically includes hosting, an SSL certificate, automated daily backups, unlimited content edits, an admin dashboard, and ongoing technical support. The specific scope of services included in your subscription will be confirmed at onboarding.

Domain name registration is not included. You are responsible for purchasing, renewing, and maintaining any domain name you use. We will assist with domain linking and DNS configuration.

We may, from time to time, modify, improve, or discontinue specific features of the Service. We will give you reasonable notice (and not less than 30 days where the change is materially adverse to you) before any change that would significantly reduce the functionality of your subscription.

All applications are subject to review. We reserve the right to decline any application without giving reasons. The contract between you and us is formed when we send you a written confirmation that your application has been accepted and provide you with an onboarding link.

By completing onboarding — which involves providing the required content and branding information, agreeing to these Terms, and submitting valid payment details — you authorise us to begin providing the Service immediately and confirm that your free trial has commenced.

We offer a free trial of 10 calendar days ("Trial Period"). The Trial Period begins at the moment you complete onboarding, not when your website is delivered or approved.

During the Trial Period:

• We will design, build, and present your website for your review.
• You may request reasonable amendments.
• You may cancel at any time without charge.
• No payment will be taken from your card.

If you do not cancel before the Trial Period ends, your paid subscription will commence automatically and your card will be charged at the rate notified to you at onboarding.

If you are a consumer (an individual acting outside your trade, business, craft, or profession), you have a statutory right to cancel this contract within 14 calendar days of the day after the contract is entered into, without giving any reason. This is in addition to (and runs concurrently with) the Trial Period described in Clause 4.

To exercise this right, you must inform us of your decision to cancel by a clear statement (for example, by email to contact@staieltd.co.uk or by using the cancellation link in your customer portal). You may use the model cancellation form available on request, but you do not have to.

By completing onboarding and expressly requesting that we begin providing the Service immediately, you acknowledge:

• We may begin work on your website during the 14-day cancellation period at your express request.
• If you cancel after work has begun but before the end of the 14-day period, you may be required to pay an amount proportionate to the work performed up to the point of cancellation. In practice, where cancellation occurs during the Trial Period, no charge will be made.
• Once the Service has been fully performed during the cancellation period (which is unlikely to occur within the Trial Period), you lose the right to cancel under these Regulations.

Nothing in this Clause 5 affects your other statutory rights as a consumer, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

After the Trial Period ends, your subscription will continue at the rate confirmed at onboarding. Payments are taken in advance through our payment processor.

We currently offer monthly and quarterly billing options. The current monthly and quarterly rates will be set out clearly during onboarding and on the checkout page before you provide payment details. The total price of your subscription, inclusive of all charges, is presented to you upfront in compliance with applicable consumer protection law.

By providing payment details, you authorise recurring charges in accordance with your selected billing frequency until the subscription is cancelled. We do not store full card details on our systems; these are held securely by our payment processor.

All prices are exclusive of VAT. We are not currently VAT-registered. If we become VAT-registered in future, VAT will be added to all subscriptions and we will give you not less than 30 days' written notice before any change takes effect.

If a payment fails, we will notify you and our payment processor will retry the charge in accordance with its standard process. We may suspend the Service if a payment remains outstanding after reasonable retry attempts.

You may cancel your subscription at any time. There is no minimum term and no exit or cancellation fee.

Cancellation can be performed:

• By logging in to the customer portal accessible from your account; or
• By emailing contact@staieltd.co.uk with a clear statement of your wish to cancel.

We will acknowledge cancellations within one working day and confirm the effective date.

Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. You will retain full access to the Service until that date. We do not pro-rate refunds for cancellations made part-way through a billing period.

For quarterly prepayments, cancellation will prevent renewal at the next quarterly cycle but does not entitle you to a refund of any unused portion of the current paid quarter.

All payments taken after the Trial Period are non-refundable. This includes payments resulting from:

• Failure to cancel before the Trial Period ended.
• Dissatisfaction following the Trial Period.
• Unused service time following cancellation.
• Changes in your business, personal, or financial circumstances.

This refund position does not affect your statutory rights, including:

• Your right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (Clause 5).
• Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 if the Service has not been performed with reasonable care and skill, or has not conformed with information provided about it.

You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information during onboarding and update it where necessary.
• Maintain the confidentiality of your account credentials and notify us promptly of any suspected unauthorised access.
• Ensure that all content you supply (including text, images, logos, and any other materials) is lawful, accurate, and does not infringe the rights of any third party.
• Comply with all applicable laws when using the Service, including data protection, consumer protection, advertising, and equality laws.

You agree not to use, and not to permit others to use, the Service to:

• Publish, host, or transmit material that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, threatening, obscene, hateful, or that incites violence or discrimination.
• Infringe the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or other rights of any person.
• Distribute malware, viruses, or other harmful code.
• Engage in unsolicited bulk messaging (spam).
• Scrape, mine, or harvest content or data from the Service without our written permission.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service, our systems, or other customers' accounts.
• Use the Service in a way that imposes an unreasonable load on our infrastructure, or that disrupts the experience of other users.
• Resell, sublicense, or rebrand the Service to third parties without our written agreement.

If your website includes any feature that allows third parties to contribute or publish content (for example, a community forum, comments section, member profiles, or guest posting), you are responsible for moderating that content and for ensuring that it complies with this Clause 10. We may, but are not obliged to, remove content that breaches these Terms or that we reasonably believe is unlawful.

We may suspend or terminate your account immediately, without notice, in the event of a serious or repeated breach of this Clause 10.

We aim to keep the Service available continuously, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted availability. We may carry out planned maintenance, of which we will give reasonable notice where practicable.

We are not liable for downtime or service disruption caused by:

• Third-party providers (including hosting infrastructure, payment processors, and domain registrars).
• Internet or telecommunications infrastructure outside our reasonable control.
• Events of force majeure (Clause 19).

Where the Service is materially unavailable for an extended period due to a fault on our side, please contact us — we will work in good faith to resolve the issue and, where appropriate, provide a service credit.

We aim to respond to support requests promptly during normal UK working hours (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays). We do not commit to specific response or resolution times, but will use reasonable efforts to resolve issues in a timely manner having regard to their nature and urgency. Requests received outside working hours may not be addressed until the next working day.

11A. Edits and ongoing changes ("Unlimited edits")

Subscriptions include unlimited content edits, meaning there is no cap on the number of edit requests you may submit during your subscription. For clarity:

• "Unlimited" refers to the number of requests, not their priority, complexity, or turnaround time.
• Edit requests are processed in the order received and within a reasonable timeframe, typically within a few working days.
• We may decline or quote separately for requests that, in our reasonable view, fall outside the scope of routine content or design edits — for example, the addition of new pages or sections, the integration of third-party systems, structural redesigns, or work that requires bespoke development.
• We may decline edit requests that would breach Clause 10 (Acceptable use), violate any third-party rights, or that we reasonably consider unethical, defamatory, or unlawful.
• Where you submit an unusually high volume of requests in a short period, we may batch and prioritise them at our reasonable discretion to ensure fair service to all customers.

11B. Third-party services and integrations

The Service relies on a range of third-party providers, including (but not limited to) hosting infrastructure, payment processors, domain registrars, email and communications providers, content delivery networks, analytics services, and any plugins, integrations, or external software incorporated into your website at your request or as part of our standard build.

We are not responsible or liable for:

• Outages, downtime, performance issues, security incidents, data loss, or service changes caused by any third-party provider.
• Changes to a third party's pricing, features, terms of service, or availability that affect our ability to deliver some or all of the Service.
• Bugs, vulnerabilities, or defects in third-party software, plugins, themes, or integrations that we have not authored.
• Any incompatibility between third-party services that arises outside our reasonable control.

Where a third-party issue affects your Service, we will use reasonable efforts to mitigate the impact, find workarounds, or migrate to an alternative provider where appropriate. If a third party we rely on becomes unavailable or unsuitable, we may need to substitute it with a comparable service; we will notify you of any change that materially affects you.

If you request the inclusion of a specific third-party service, plugin, or integration that is not part of our standard offering, you accept that:

• We do not warrant the performance or continued availability of that third party.
• We may charge separately for the time required to integrate, configure, or troubleshoot it.
• We may decline to support it if, in our reasonable view, it presents security, performance, or maintenance risks.

Your website content and the materials you provide to us remain yours. On cancellation:

• Your website will remain live until the end of your current billing period, after which it will be taken offline.
• We will retain your account data and website content for 30 days following the end of the billing period to allow you to request an export.
• During that period, we will provide a full export of your website's content and data on request, at no cost.
• Where the underlying platform supports it, we will provide a standard backup file that can be imported into another instance of the same platform hosted elsewhere.
• After 30 days, your data may be permanently deleted from our systems unless you have requested otherwise in writing.

For the avoidance of doubt, the data export does not include:

• Our underlying source code, technical infrastructure, server configuration, custom plugins, or proprietary themes and templates that we use across multiple customers (these remain our property under Clause 15).
• Any third-party software, plugins, or licences that are not transferable.

Domains and DNS. Where you own the domain name used with your website (registered through your own provider), it remains yours at all times and is unaffected by cancellation. On cancellation, DNS records that previously pointed to our hosting will no longer resolve to a live website, and it is your responsibility to repoint the DNS to a new host or take any other action you wish. Where we have registered or managed a domain on your behalf, we will work in good faith to transfer it to you or your nominated registrar on reasonable request, subject to any registrar processes and reasonable administrative fees. We do not claim ownership over your business name, branding, or content.

We process personal data in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, store, and use your personal data.

Where we process personal data on your behalf — for example, the personal data of visitors who use a website we host for you — you are the data controller and we act as a data processor. Our processing is governed by Clause 14 below, which forms a data processing agreement between us. You are responsible for ensuring that any personal data collected through your website is processed in compliance with applicable data protection law, including providing a privacy notice to your own users.

To the extent we process personal data on your behalf, we will:

• Process that personal data only on your documented instructions, except where required by law to do otherwise.
• Ensure that persons authorised to process the personal data have committed themselves to confidentiality.
• Implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk.
• Assist you, taking into account the nature of the processing, in fulfilling your obligations to respond to data subject rights requests.
• Notify you without undue delay after becoming aware of a personal data breach affecting that data.
• On termination, delete or return all personal data unless retention is required by law.
• Make available all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with these obligations.

A current list of named subprocessors is available on request by emailing contact@staieltd.co.uk.

The underlying technology, code, hosting infrastructure, design system, and operational know-how we use to build and operate the Service remain our property at all times.

The visual design and content of your specific website is licensed to you for the duration of your subscription on a non-exclusive, non-transferable basis. On cancellation, you retain ownership of any content and brand assets you originally provided to us.

You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, copy, host, and display content you provide to us solely to the extent necessary to deliver the Service to you.

16.1 Footer credit. By using the Service, you agree that we may display a small, unobtrusive credit at the bottom of your website (such as "Built by Staie" with a link to our website). The placement, wording, and styling will be at our reasonable discretion but will be tasteful and non-disruptive. If you wish to remove the credit, you may do so by upgrading to our credit-free plan, where available, on payment of any applicable additional fee.

16.2 Portfolio and case studies. We may reference your website and business or community name in our portfolio, marketing materials, social media, and sales conversations, including by displaying screenshots and brief descriptions of the live site. We will not disclose the personal data of your users or any non-public information about your operations. You may opt out of this clause at any time by emailing contact@staieltd.co.uk, after which we will remove your details from any forward-facing materials within a reasonable period.

16.3 Use of your trade marks. Nothing in this Clause 16 grants either party rights in the other's registered trade marks. Each party retains all rights in its own marks and may withdraw permission to display them by giving 30 days' written notice.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:

• Death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
• Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
• Any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under English law (including, where you are a consumer, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015).

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

• We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential losses, including loss of profits, revenue, business opportunity, anticipated savings, goodwill, or data.
• Our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with these Terms, whether in contract, tort, or otherwise, is limited to the total amount paid by you under your subscription in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

If you are a business customer, you agree that this limitation reflects a fair and reasonable allocation of risk having regard to the nature of the Service and the price.

If you are a business customer, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from and against any reasonable claims, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

• Your breach of these Terms;
• The content you provide to us or publish via the Service;
• Your use of the Service in violation of any applicable law or third-party right.

This Clause 18 does not apply to consumers.

We are not liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by events outside our reasonable control, including (without limitation) technical failures, third-party service outages, internet or telecommunications failures, natural disasters, fire, flood, pandemic, government action, and acts of war or terrorism.

If a force majeure event continues for more than 30 days, either party may terminate the contract on written notice without penalty.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, with reasonable notice where practicable, if:

• A payment is not received after reasonable retry attempts.
• You materially breach these Terms and (where the breach is capable of remedy) fail to remedy it within 14 days of being notified.
• You use the Service in a way we reasonably consider unlawful, harmful, or seriously damaging to our reputation or other customers.
• We are required to do so by law or by a binding order from a competent authority.

Suspension does not, of itself, terminate the subscription. On termination by us for your breach, no refund is due. On termination by us without cause, we will refund any prepaid amounts in respect of services not yet provided.

20A. Termination for convenience

We reserve the right to terminate your subscription for any other reasonable reason by giving you not less than 30 days' written notice by email. Reasonable reasons include, but are not limited to:

• A breakdown in the working relationship between us.
• Conduct that, while not amounting to a material breach, makes the continued provision of the Service impractical or unsustainable for us.
• A change in our service offering, business focus, or operational capacity that means we are no longer able to serve your particular requirements.
• Any other circumstance where, acting reasonably, we conclude that it is in the best interests of one or both parties to bring the relationship to an end.

Where we terminate under this Clause 20A:

• We will continue to provide the Service for the full notice period.
• We will refund, on a pro-rata basis, any prepaid amounts in respect of services not yet provided beyond the termination date.
• We will provide a full export of your website's content and data on request, in accordance with Clause 12.
• We will not be liable for any indirect, consequential, or business losses arising from termination under this Clause.

Official communication channel. All formal communication relating to your subscription must be sent by email to contact@staieltd.co.uk. Communication sent via other channels (including social media direct messages, WhatsApp, SMS, phone, or instant messaging) is not considered formal notice and may not be acknowledged or actioned.

Formal notices under these Terms must be given:

• To us, by email to contact@staieltd.co.uk;
• To you, by email to the address you have provided to us at onboarding (or any address you subsequently notify us of in writing).

Notices are deemed received on the next working day after sending, provided no error or non-delivery message is received.

We may update these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in law, regulation, or the way we operate the Service. Material changes will be notified to you by email at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of the Service after that date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not accept a material change, you may cancel under Clause 7.

For consumers, no change will deprive you of any statutory right or apply retrospectively to a payment already taken.

If you have a complaint about the Service, please email contact@staieltd.co.uk with the heading "Complaint" and a description of the issue. We will:

• Acknowledge receipt within 2 working days.
• Provide a substantive response within 10 working days.
• Where the complaint cannot be resolved in that time, keep you regularly updated on progress.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may have the right to refer the matter to an alternative dispute resolution provider once the new arrangements under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 come into force. In the meantime, consumers may also seek advice from Citizens Advice or Trading Standards.

24.1 Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, that provision will be struck out and the remaining provisions will continue in full force.

24.2 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any documents expressly referred to in them, constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to the Service. They supersede any prior representations or agreements not expressly recorded in writing. Nothing in this clause limits liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

24.3 No waiver. A failure or delay by us to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that provision.

24.4 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our written consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations on giving you reasonable written notice, provided your rights under these Terms are not adversely affected.

24.5 Third party rights. A person who is not a party to these Terms has no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term.

24.6 Relationship. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship between us.

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute, except that a consumer resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland may bring proceedings in their local courts.

Staie Ltd · Email: contact@staieltd.co.uk · Company number: 17195211 · Registered in England and Wales.

For any questions about these Terms, please contact us at the address above.