Values

Thank you for trusting us with some information about you.  We take that trust seriously and we want you to know how we use your information and why. If you have queries about how we use your data, or comments or questions about this Policy, please do email us.  The email address to use is set out in section 2 below. Policy updates: We keep this Policy under regular review, and this page may be updated from time to time.  Please come back here to check the latest version.  This Policy was last updated on the date given in the final box in the table in section 2 below.

Who are we?

NameThe Training Surgery Ltd
Trading NameTomorrow’s VA
Company only: Director(s)Shelley Fishel David Fishel
Company Registration Number if applicable06387049
Email address for official noticesshelley@tomorrowsva.com
Data Retention Period(s)Prospects – up to 7 years Customers and Suppliers – 7 years after the last financial transaction Members – for the lifetime of your membership
Card and payment processor (3rd party) names and their security policy linksStripe – https://stripe.com/gb/privacy   Paypal – https://www.paypal.com/en/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full
Cookie policyhttps://tomorrowsva.com/cookie-policy/
  
Date this Policy last updated12 December 2018

Words with specific meanings

In this Policy, there are words and phrases that have a specific meaning or that we are using in a special way.  They are:

“personal data” – any information about an identifiable living human being.

“process” – we “process” your personal data when we do anything with it, which might include:  collecting, recording, organising, storing, adapting, altering, retrieving, using, combining, disclosing, or deleting it.

“special category data” – personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, sex life or sexual orientation, health, genetic or biometric data.

What this policy describes

This policy describes how we will collect and use personal data about you. We process information about:

“Prospects” – potential customers or referrers;

“Customers” – who have bought goods or services from us;

“Suppliers”, “Associates” – suppliers or potential suppliers of goods or services to us;

“Affiliates” –who have signed up to our affiliate scheme (if we have one).

What information do we process, and Why?

Prospect

Most of the information we process comes from you.  We process it so we can reply to you, and when you contact us again we know what you asked before, what you were sent, and what you told us. Typically, we are collecting name, contact details, how we came across you, and background information from you or published by you on social media or freely accessible on the internet, on why you might be interested in our products or services or a relevant contact for our business. If you sign up to a newsletter list, you will be sent what you asked for.   We normally operate ‘double opt-in’ lists and you will need to reconfirm your subscription before anything is sent.   You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe button on any email. You are not automatically subscribed to any other lists, but may be invited to join an appropriate one. If we email you individually using our own email system, or respond to an email sent to us at any of our business email addresses, a copy of that email will also be stored. If you make an enquiry via our website, we will keep details of that enquiry and response for our data retention period (section 2, Table, above). We do not routinely keep special category data.  To the extent we hold this, it was supplied or made publicly available by you.

Customer

Once you buy something from us, we will collect information from you at the point of sale. This will include the information we collect from Prospects (above).  We collect your email address, phone number and postal address so we can provide what we have contracted to, invoice you and keep proper records of our business relationship. We process your data to support the delivery of the goods and services you have bought.  We keep records of the goods/services provided to you, and information you give us, so we can support you when needed and advise you of any additional services you may need. Financial and credit card details We do not receive or store your credit card details. Credit card payments are handled by an external secure processor in accordance with their data security policies (see section 2, Table, above). We receive limited information from our processor for us to tie up your payment with your invoice. If you pay us by BACS or direct transfer, we know only what the bank tells us, which is usually the name of the person who paid us and how much and the reference number. We do not routinely keep credit scores nor use credit reference agencies. When we are processing data about you on behalf of a customer, we are operating under the banner of our customer’s data privacy policy.  We will refer any enquiry from you to them, as they are the ‘data controller’ responsible for dealing with your query.  But we will support that by providing relevant information to our customer for passing to you.

Supplier and Associates

We collect information on potential and actual suppliers and associates.   This is mostly provided by you, but we do add to it the same kind of data we use for Prospects (see above). If you become a supplier or associate we keep a copy of the contract between us and your bank details so we can pay you.  We also keep a record of invoices/payments for accounting purposes. We keep a record of the work you undertook for us/our clients along with any comments, reviews or suggestions about that work including complaints (if any) and their resolution. This information is all needed to manage our customer relationships and our supply chain.

Affiliate

If we set up an affiliate scheme, affiliate data will be held in accordance with this policy.  We will ask you for information when you apply and that will be kept to administer the affiliate scheme.

Newsletters and automated emails

We monitor who opens what in our newsletter lists, and pre-set sequences of information we send you.  We do this, so we can see if content is popular and generate more of it, or if it is not read. There may be sub-routines that trigger if you click on links or articles.  These are designed to offer you more information about things you are interested in. You can unsubscribe from these sequences at any time. Existing customers may receive emails about specific offers relating to things you have already purchased.   You can unsubscribe from these at any time. From time to time, we contact individual email newsletter subscribers but it is extremely rare.  This would normally be if something odd were going on and we wanted to check you could see and use the content or find out what was causing a problem.

Data sharing – 3rd parties

We do not sell or exchange your personal data with organisations who may want to sell you something or use your data for research or other purposes.

Platforms

We keep a list of the software platforms we use to run our business.  If you would like a list of all the platforms we use, please email us (at the email address in section 2, Table, above).

People

We have an outsourced support team for our own business which may include Virtual Assistants, Web Designers, IT support, Sales and Marketing, Accounting and more.  They have limited access to your data, where the service they provide to us means they need it. For example, if our IT support wants to check the functionality of a laptop or back up, they may need temporary access to information that may include something about you. For example, if we invoice you, our Accountant needs to process the information in the invoice. Your information/advice is held in the strictest confidence. Our team are all contracted to strict confidentiality clauses.

Where is your data located?

Like most small businesses, we do not have any tailor-made software – we use mainstream packages for everything from our customer records, to email, to accounting. This means that some of your data may be held in the EEA, and some may be held in services in the USA (with suitable data privacy shields) or elsewhere.  We have picked mainstream suppliers with appropriate security standards.

Retention periods

Your information will be kept for the length of time set out in our retention period (see section 2, Table, above). We need to keep customer information long enough to satisfy HMRC and our insurers.  We keep information on prospective customers long enough to make our sales enquiry system effective. If you subscribed to a newsletter or updates list, you will remain on the list(s) you joined until you unsubscribe from that list.

Your rights

You have the right to know what information we are collecting on you, and to amend it if it is inaccurate. If you feel for some reason we have information we should not be keeping, or it is out of date or otherwise wrong, please let us know and we will take appropriate action. Most of the information we hold is not based on your individual consent but is based on our needing the information to run our business and provide our products and services. If you want to know what information we have about you (if any) email us at the email address set out above and give us your name, email address(es) and we will happily do a search and let you know what information we hold on you and how we are using it/have used it. You have a “right to be forgotten” – but that does have some legal limits to it.  If you want us to remove information about you, let us know.  If you have been a customer, we may not be able to remove all data as we will have to ensure that we can continue to comply with legal, accounting, taxation and our insurer’s requirements.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about the way we are handling your information or how we have responded to a request for information or removal, you can take this up in the first instance by emailing us at the email address set out above. If we can’t sort it out, the relevant supervisory authority for us is the Information Commissioner for the UK.  You can contact them here.

Cookies

For information about cookies and how we use them, please see our cookie policy, linked in section 2, Table, above.

Accreditations

A round badge reading "Certified Designer of Online Learning 2014" with the Learning & Performance Institute logo, surrounded by the text "The Learning and Performance Institute.
Round badge with text "Certified Online Learning Facilitator 2014" and "Learning & Performance Institute" on a pink background.
A circular badge stating "Fellow since 2015" from the Learning & Performance Institute, with the words "Involve, Inform, Inspire" around the edge.

I have used what I learned to help me be quicker and more efficient when creating new documents, letters and even spreadsheets even though I have not done the Excel part of the course yet – just knowing what Copilot is capable of has enabled this and I am excited to learn more about how I can use it with Excel.  It is also great for helping me find lost information and sources.  It has definitely made a positive impact on my productivity and efficiency, and I hope even more so once I have recapped all the sessions.  I think the overarching benefit of the course is that it allows you to see what Copilot can be used with and how; if you don’t know what it can do, you can’t ask the right questions, now I know how to ask the right questions to get what I need.

I would definitely recommend that all the other EAs do this course – if it is an option for them to do so and they want to!  

Microsoft 365 with Copilot – The Human Advantage

Really clear and inclusive training at a good pace

Microsoft 365 with Copilot – The Human Advantage

Shelley’s teaching style is relaxed but engaging, she’s happy to take questions & go over things more than once and in different ways to help you understand.

If you need to get to grip with CoPilot – whether it’s because you want to or (worse) have to, then I can’t recommend Shelley’s course highly enough. She’s got a new cohort running in January – my advice: Be there or be a right -angled, equal-sided parallelogram!

Colin Foster

Microsoft 365 with Copilot – The Human Advantage

This course has benefitted me enormously in becoming the go to person for all things AI with colleagues, I have a learnt an awful lot in these four sessions with Shelley across Microsoft 365 and can better visualise how to use it on a daily basis.  Shelley uses clear examples on how to incorporate it in your daily work, and not only that but the access to the recordings and the additional documents is invaluable, thank you so much again Shelley!

 Elizabeth Bate  

Microsoft 365 with Copilot – The Human Advantage

Attending the Copilot AI course was a game-changer for my productivity. I learned how to leverage AI to streamline tasks, draft content faster, and make smarter decisions with real-time insights. The course was practical, easy to follow, and immediately applicable to my daily work. Highly recommended for anyone looking to stay ahead in a tech-driven world in the EA world.

Joann Bergstrom

Microsoft 365 with Copilot- The Human Advantage

Shelley provides invaluable insight into leveraging Microsoft products most efficiently and effectively.

Top Time Busting Tips for Microsoft Office – Ginger Aslous

Crammed a lot in today’s session and we all came away having learnt a lot of things! Considering how much time we had, I feel a lot was taken away

Manage your data in Excel – Olivia Nelson Potter Space

Microsoft 365 is the perfect session to get a basic (and more) understanding of Microsoft 365 incl. all apps! Shelley is a great trainer and expert with lots of experience and so much knowledge. I could have listened to all her tips many more hours. With all features out there, Microsoft 365 seems like a wild jungle sometimes but the session helped me getting a few things sorted. I look forward to the next session!

This participant wished to remain anonymous.

Collaboration with Microsoft 365

I always come away from a presentation by Shelley with useful tips to incorporate into my day job – she has a clear & patient presenting style & her content always has some invaluable tips for streamlining and making processes more efficient.

Collaboration with Microsoft 365 – Kate Watson

Shelley is very patient and made me feel comfortable with asking for further clarification. She was very receptive to intermittent questions as well.

This participant wished to remain anonymous.

Collaboration with Microsoft 365

Shelley was very thorough in her explanations and made OneDrive and SharePoint easy to understand – would recommend.

Collaboration with Microsoft 365 – Olivia Tubman

I find Shelley’s training easy to follow and the very best thing is that you can do it all at your own pace and revisit modules if it doesn’t quite sink in the first time round! I have learned so much from her training and continue to do so! She is responsive to my questions and I learn something new with each module. I find Iam hardly ever having to Google or YouTube information now, so it really is saving me time in my work day. Time that can be better used by learning more about the business I operate in!
Thanks Shelley!

Tracey Whitehouse – Executive Assistant

I have been following Shelley on Linkedin for several years, and always loved her hints and tips. In May of this year, I had the opportunity to recommend Shelley as one of our workshop speakers at the annual HMC Heads’ PA Conference in Sheffield.

On receiving the brief Shelley quickly produced content for two IT Microsoft Skills Workshops covering nuggets from Outlook, Word and Excel. Shelley then delivered (virtually) these two fantastic workshops to over 60 PAs at our conference.

From initial enquiry to delivery Shelley is the consummate professional and it was my pleasure to have had the opportunity to engage with her.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Shelley to any individual or group.

Michaela Fletcher – Heads PA

Shelley is THE guru on all things Microsoft.

I love Outlook, use it every day, and think I have a pretty good understanding of it. But every time I attend one of her sessions I learn a lot more. Her knowledge is remarkable. And she delivers her knowledge in a really clear, engaging way.

Thanks Shelley

Kathy Soulsby

I have just spent less than an hour at one of Shelley’s presentations and my mind is truly blown! I thought I was fairly proficient in Outlook, but I had no idea it could do so much more! So many time saving tips and shortcuts to help me – I can’t wait to get stuck in and implement them all! Thank you Shelley – I would highly recommend!

Hayley Rose – Executive Assistant -Dalcour Maclaren

Shelley joined us for the annual HMC Heads’ PAs conference in May 2023, where she delivered two hands-on practical IT skills workshops for over 60 PAs in attendance. Both sessions were warmly received by all participants, and from a personal perspective it was an absolute pleasure for me to work with Shelley both offline in the extensive prep phase ahead of the sessions, and online during the day itself – sharp in subject knowledge, flexible in content delivery and everything executed with a really affable manner and “can-do” approach throughout. I would recommend her services wholeheartedly.

Gareth Johnson – Leader GRE Education

Heads PA Conference