First Web Design Ltd
Terms and Conditions
Last updated: 17 September 2026
1. About us and these terms
1.1 These terms apply to all services provided by First Web Design Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14964940), whose registered office is at 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London W1W 5PF (“we”, “us”, “our”). You can contact us at hello@firstwebdesign.co.uk or on 01480 262123.
1.2 Our services include website design and development, digital forms, workflow automation, custom web applications, SEO support, hosting, domain management, support and maintenance (“Services”).
1.3 “You” or “the client” means the person or organisation we provide Services to. Where you are an individual acting for purposes outside your trade, business, craft or profession, you are a “consumer” and section 17 also applies to you.
1.4 Our contract with you is made up of these terms and our written quote, proposal or order confirmation (“Quote”). If there is a conflict, the Quote takes priority over these terms. The contract starts when you accept the Quote in writing (including by email) or pay a deposit.
1.5 Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer.
2. Scope of work
2.1 All work must be agreed in writing before it begins. The Quote sets out what is included.
2.2 Anything outside the agreed scope is additional work. We will tell you before carrying it out and it will be charged at our standard hourly or daily rate unless we agree a different price in writing.
2.3 Timescales in a Quote are estimates. We will do our best to meet them, but delays caused by late content, feedback, approvals, access or payment from you may move the timetable.
3. Your responsibilities
3.1 You agree to:
- supply content, images, feedback, approvals and access details promptly and in the agreed format
- make sure you own or have permission to use everything you supply to us, and that it is lawful and accurate
- check and approve work before it goes live
- keep your own login details secure and tell us promptly about any issue you notice
- comply with the law when using your website, including data protection and consumer law that applies to your own business
3.2 You are responsible for the content of your website, including your own privacy notice, cookie policy and terms, unless we have agreed in writing to write them for you.
4. Revisions and approval
4.1 Reasonable revisions are included within the original project scope. Significant structural changes, redesigns or additional functionality may incur further charges.
4.2 Once you approve a stage or ask us to launch the website, that work is treated as accepted. Changes after acceptance are additional work, except where they fix a fault caused by us.
5. Fees and payment
5.1 Our fees are set out in the Quote. We are not registered for VAT, so no VAT is added to our invoices. If we become VAT registered, we will tell you and VAT will be added at the applicable rate from that date.
5.2 For full website builds, payment is made in 3 stages unless the Quote says otherwise:
- 50% deposit before work begins
- 25% at the mid stage
- 25% on completion, before launch or transfer
5.3 For smaller tasks and support work, we invoice on completion unless a different arrangement is agreed.
5.4 Recurring services such as hosting, domains and support plans are invoiced in advance for each billing period.
5.5 Unless stated otherwise on the invoice, invoices are payable within 30 days of the invoice date.
5.6 Instalment options through third-party providers such as PayPal may be available depending on the invoice amount. Those providers’ own terms apply.
6. Late payment
6.1 If you are a business client and an invoice is not paid on time, we may charge statutory interest and fixed debt recovery compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, or any legislation that replaces it.
6.2 If you are a consumer and an invoice is not paid on time, we may charge interest on the overdue amount at 4% a year above the Bank of England base rate, calculated daily until payment is made.
6.3 If an invoice remains unpaid after its due date, we may pause work, hosting or website access. We will always give you at least 14 days’ written notice before a pause.
6.4 We will restore the Services once all overdue invoices are paid. Any reactivation work needed after a pause may be charged at our standard rate.
7. Intellectual property
7.1 We keep ownership of all design systems, templates, code structures, scripts, frameworks, plugins we have developed and technical methods created or used during the project (“Our Materials”). We may reuse Our Materials in other projects.
7.2 Once the project has been paid for in full, you receive a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual licence to use Our Materials as part of the completed website or system for your own business purposes. Until full payment is made, you may not use the work on a live website.
7.3 You must not sell, sublicense or redistribute Our Materials separately from your website.
7.4 All images, text, media, branding and other content you supply remain your property. You give us permission to use them to provide the Services.
7.5 Where we buy stock images, fonts or other licensed assets for your project, the licence is provided on the terms of the relevant supplier.
8. Third-party software, plugins and services
8.1 Websites often rely on third-party software and services, such as WordPress, premium plugins and themes, booking systems, payment gateways, email services, LeadConnector, Zapier and other integrations. We are not responsible for the performance, availability, security or pricing of these services, or for changes their providers make.
8.2 Where your website uses premium plugins, themes or other paid software, you are responsible for the licence fees, which we invoice to you. Licence fees are set by the software providers and may change.
8.3 Work needed to adjust, repair or replace third-party tools, or to fix issues caused by third-party updates or failures, is additional work unless covered by a support plan.
9. Hosting, domains and backups
9.1 Where we provide or manage hosting, we will take reasonable steps to keep your website available and secure, but we cannot guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service. Planned maintenance and issues with upstream providers may cause downtime.
9.2 We keep regular backups of websites we host as part of our service. You should keep your own copies of important content and data, as backups are provided on a reasonable efforts basis.
9.3 You must not use hosting we provide for anything unlawful, harmful, infringing or abusive, or in a way that affects other customers. We may suspend hosting immediately if this happens.
9.4 Domains we register on your behalf are registered in your name or your organisation’s name as the registrant. We may be listed as the technical and administrative contact so we can manage the domain for you. The domain remains yours provided renewal fees are paid. We are not responsible for a domain expiring if a renewal invoice is unpaid.
9.5 If you ask to move your website or domain to another provider, we will provide reasonable assistance once all invoices are paid. Migration work may be charged at our standard rate.
10. Support and maintenance
10.1 Support work, troubleshooting, updates and changes are charged at our standard hourly rate unless covered by a support plan.
10.2 Work arising from third-party platforms, changes made by you or others, plugin issues or external service failures is charged as additional work unless covered by a support plan.
11. Search engines, performance and results
We will use reasonable skill and care in SEO, marketing and performance work, but we do not guarantee specific search rankings, traffic, enquiries or sales, as these depend on factors outside our control.
12. Data protection
12.1 Each of us will comply with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (as amended) when handling personal data. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data as a controller.
12.2 When we host, build, maintain or support a website or system for you, we may process personal data on your behalf, such as form entries, customer records or user accounts. In that case you are the controller and we are your processor. The subject matter, nature and purpose of the processing is providing the Services, for the duration of the contract, and may involve any personal data held in your website or system about your customers, contacts, users or staff.
12.3 When acting as your processor, we will:
- process personal data only on your documented instructions, including these terms, unless the law requires otherwise (in which case we will tell you unless the law prevents it)
- make sure anyone authorised to process the personal data is bound by confidentiality
- use appropriate technical and organisational security measures
- only use sub-processors (such as hosting, backup and email providers) under written terms that give equivalent protection, tell you about any intended changes so you can object, and remain responsible for them
- help you, taking into account the nature of the processing, respond to requests from individuals exercising their rights and meet your obligations on security, breach notification, data protection impact assessments and consultation with the ICO
- tell you without undue delay after becoming aware of a personal data breach affecting your data
- at the end of the Services, delete or return the personal data at your choice, unless the law requires us to keep it
- make available the information needed to show we meet these obligations, and allow for and contribute to reasonable audits
12.4 You are responsible for having a lawful basis for the personal data processed through your website and for giving your own users the information the law requires.
12.5 Reasonable assistance under this section that goes beyond our normal Services may be charged at our standard rate.
13. Confidentiality
Each of us will keep confidential any non-public information received from the other about their business, and will only use it to perform the contract. This does not apply to information that is already public, or that must be disclosed by law.
14. Portfolio use
14.1 We may display completed work, screenshots, design elements and non-sensitive parts of the project in our portfolio and marketing.
14.2 If you would prefer your project not to be shown, please tell us in writing before the project begins.
15. Liability
15.1 Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law.
15.2 Subject to 15.1, if you are a business client we are not liable for any loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill or data, business interruption, or any indirect or consequential loss.
15.3 Subject to 15.1, our total liability to you arising from or in connection with a project or service, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, is limited to the total fees paid or payable for that project or service. For ongoing services, this means the fees paid or payable in the 12 months before the claim arose.
15.4 We are not responsible for problems caused by third-party services, hosting or network outages outside our control, changes made to your website by you or anyone other than us, or content you supply.
16. Cancellation and ending the contract
16.1 You may cancel a project at any time by telling us in writing. You must pay for all work completed and costs incurred up to the cancellation date. For business clients, deposits are non-refundable.
16.2 Recurring services such as hosting and support plans have a minimum term of 12 months and then renew automatically for further 12 month periods, unless the Quote says otherwise. We will remind you before each renewal. You can stop a renewal by giving us at least 30 days’ written notice before the end of the current term. Fees for the current term remain payable and are not refunded, except where required by law.
16.3 Either of us may end the contract immediately by written notice if the other seriously breaches these terms and does not put it right within 14 days of being asked to, or becomes insolvent.
16.4 When the contract ends, you must pay all outstanding invoices. Sections that by their nature should continue, including intellectual property, data protection, confidentiality and liability, will continue to apply.
17. Additional terms for consumers
17.1 If you are a consumer and the contract is made at a distance (for example by email, phone or online) or away from our premises, you have the right to cancel within 14 days of the contract being made without giving a reason.
17.2 To cancel, tell us clearly in writing, for example by email to hello@firstwebdesign.co.uk.
17.3 We will not start work within the 14-day cancellation period unless you expressly ask us to. If you ask us to start and then cancel within the 14 days, you must pay for the work carried out up to the time you tell us you are cancelling. If the Services have been fully completed at your request within that period, you lose the right to cancel.
17.4 If you cancel within the 14-day period, we will refund any payment you have made, less the value of work already carried out at your request, within 14 days of you telling us.
17.5 We will provide the Services with reasonable care and skill. If we do not, please tell us and we will put it right or, where that is not possible, give you an appropriate price reduction. Our liability to consumers is not limited in any way that would be unlawful.
18. Events outside our control
We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as failures of third-party providers, internet or power outages, cyber attacks, illness or extreme weather. We will tell you as soon as possible and do what we reasonably can to reduce the impact.
19. General
19.1 We may use trusted subcontractors to help deliver the Services, and we remain responsible for their work.
19.2 We may update these terms from time to time. The version in force when you accept a Quote applies to that project. Changes to recurring services will be notified to you at least 30 days in advance.
19.3 If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest will continue to apply.
19.4 No one other than you and us has any right to enforce these terms.
19.5 If we do not enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later.
19.6 If you have a concern, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it.
19.7 These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you are a consumer living in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.
