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Terms and conditions

The terms for web design, hosting, email and domain services from Gareth Design.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

1. About these terms

These terms apply to all web design, hosting, email, domain, maintenance and server services (the “Services”) that Gareth Davies, trading as Gareth Design and Utilis Internet Services (“I”, “me”, “my”) provides to you (“you”, “the Client”).

  • Business address: Flat 2, 15 Padarn Place, Melfort Drive, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK2 3FQ
  • Email: info@garethdesign.co.uk

These terms, together with my written quote or proposal, form the contract between us. If they conflict, the quote wins. If you are a business, these terms replace any terms of your own.

2. Quotes and starting work

  • A quote sets out what I will do, the price and an estimated timetable. Quotes are valid for 30 days.
  • The contract starts when you accept my quote in writing (an email is fine) and, where a deposit is required, I receive it.
  • Anything not in the quote is extra work. I will give you a price for it before I start.
  • Dates I give are estimates, and they depend on you giving me what I need on time.

3. Prices, deposits and payment

  • Prices are in pounds sterling. Gareth Design is not VAT registered, so no VAT is charged.
  • For website builds I normally ask for a deposit of 50% before work starts, with the balance due before the site goes live.
  • Invoices are payable within 14 days. Ongoing services (hosting, email, maintenance) are invoiced annually in advance (or monthly where we have agreed that in writing).
  • If you are a business and you pay late, I may charge interest and fixed compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
  • Deposits are non-refundable once work has started, but this does not affect a consumer’s rights in section 10. See section 10 for cancellation.

4. What you need to provide

  • You will give me the text, images, logos and other content I need, in good time, and any access details I need (for example to your domain or existing hosting).
  • You confirm you own, or have permission to use, everything you give me. This includes images, fonts and text. You will make sure it does not break anyone’s copyright or other rights.
  • You are responsible for the accuracy of the content and for making sure your website meets legal rules that apply to your business, such as privacy notices, cookie rules and trade or professional requirements, unless the quote says I will do it.
  • Delays in getting content or feedback from you may move the timetable and may mean I have to schedule your project again.

5. Design stages and revisions

  • The quote includes 2 rounds of revisions to the design and 1 round after the site has been built. A round means one set of consolidated changes, sent to me together.
  • Changes outside the original brief, or further rounds, are extra work and I will quote for them.
  • Once you have approved a stage in writing, changing it may be charged as extra work.
  • I will treat the website as finished once you confirm it is approved, or 10 working days after I tell you it is ready for launch and you have not raised any problems.

6. Intellectual property

  • When you have paid for the work in full, I transfer to you the copyright in the bespoke designs and content I created specifically for you under the quote.
  • Until you have paid in full, I only give you permission to use my work for testing and approval, and not to publish it.
  • I keep ownership of my own tools, code libraries, methods and any general know-how I use. I give you a non-exclusive licence to use them as part of your website.
  • Third-party items, such as WordPress, Joomla, themes, plugins and stock images, stay under their own licences. You may need to pay for licences or renewals, and I will tell you if the quote does not include them.
  • Unless you tell me otherwise in writing, I may show the finished website in my portfolio and say I built it.

7. Hosting, email and maintenance services

  • Hosting and email are provided on an ongoing basis and renew automatically each year (or each month where we have agreed that in writing) until cancelled under section 10.
  • I will take reasonable steps to keep the service running, secure and backed up. I do not promise it will be uninterrupted or fault-free.
  • I may carry out maintenance that causes short interruptions. I will try to do this at quiet times and warn you for planned work that is likely to affect you.
  • Fair use: hosting and email must be used within the reasonable limits for the plan you chose, as set out in your quote or order.
  • You must not use the services for anything unlawful, for sending spam, for spreading malware, or in a way that harms my servers or other customers. I may suspend a service at once to deal with a security risk or serious breach.
  • You are responsible for keeping your own passwords safe.
  • Backups are for restoring the service and are not a substitute for keeping your own copies of important content.
  • Maintenance and security plans cover only what the plan says. They do not include new design work or content changes unless stated.

8. Renewals, non-payment and suspension

  • I will send a reminder before ongoing services renew, at least 30 days before the renewal date.
  • If an invoice is not paid by the due date, I may send a reminder, and if it is still unpaid 14 days after the due date I may suspend your hosting, email or other services until it is paid. I will tell you before I do this.
  • If an invoice is still unpaid 30 days after suspension, I may cancel the services and delete your data. I will warn you first, in writing, and I will give you the chance to collect your website files and data before it happens.
  • Suspension for non-payment does not cancel the debt, and I will not charge a fee to restore the service once you have paid what you owe.

9. Domain names

  • Where I register or renew a domain name for you, it is registered in your name, so you are the registrant and the legal owner.
  • Domain registration is also governed by the registry’s and registrar’s own terms. For .uk domains these include the rules of Nominet.
  • Domains must be renewed on time. I will remind you, but if a domain expires because a renewal was not paid for or you did not respond, I am not responsible for any loss that follows.
  • If you leave, I will give you the information you need to transfer your domain to another provider, free of charge.

10. Cancellation and ending the contract

If you are a business

  • Fixed-price projects: you may cancel before work starts by telling me in writing. If I have started, you must pay for the work done to that point and for any costs I have already paid for you. The deposit covers the work done up to that point and is not refunded once work has started. If the work done is worth more than the deposit, you pay the difference.
  • Ongoing services: you may cancel by giving me at least 30 days’ written notice before the next renewal date. I do not give refunds for periods already paid for, unless the law says otherwise.
  • I may end the contract by giving you at least 30 days’ written notice. I may end it immediately if you seriously breach these terms, do not pay, or become insolvent. If I end a prepaid ongoing service early without a breach by you, I will refund the unused part.

If you are a consumer (buying for purposes mostly outside your trade, business or profession)

  • Your 14-day right to cancel. Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you have the right to cancel within 14 days of the day the contract is made, without giving a reason. To cancel, tell me clearly in writing, for example by email to info@garethdesign.co.uk. You can use the form below but you do not have to.
  • Starting work within the 14 days. I will not start work within the 14 days unless you ask me to. If you ask me to start work within that time and then cancel, you must pay me for what I have done up to the point you told me. This is a proportionate part of the full price. If the service is fully performed within 14 days, and you asked me to start and accepted that you would lose your right to cancel once the service is fully performed, you cannot cancel after that.
  • Refunds. If you cancel in time, I will refund what you have paid, less any amount you owe for work already done, within 14 days of getting your notice. I will refund by the same payment method you used.
  • Model cancellation form (optional): “I/We hereby give notice that I/We cancel my/our contract for the supply of the following service: [name of service], ordered on [date], name of consumer(s), address of consumer(s), date.”
  • After the 14 days, the cancellation terms for ongoing services in section 7 and the notice period above apply, and your legal rights are not affected.

11. Your legal rights and my responsibilities

  • I will provide the Services with reasonable care and skill. If you are a consumer, you have legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and nothing in these terms affects them.
  • If I do not meet this standard, tell me promptly and I will put it right, or if I cannot, I will agree a fair price reduction.

12. Limits on my liability

  • Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot legally be limited. Nothing here affects a consumer’s legal rights.
  • Subject to that, I am not liable for: loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill or data, or any indirect or consequential loss, whether or not it was foreseeable.
  • Subject to that, my total liability for anything arising from the Services in any 12 months is limited to the fees you paid me in the previous 12 months.
  • I am not responsible for failures caused by things outside my reasonable control, such as faults at a third-party provider, internet or power failures, cyber attacks that could not reasonably have been prevented, or changes to third-party software or search-engine rules.
  • I do not guarantee any particular search ranking, number of visitors, sales or results.

13. Your information

I handle personal information in line with my Privacy policy. Where I host or manage personal information for you, such as customer details held on your website or in your mailboxes, I act on your instructions, and you remain responsible for it. If I host your website or email, I will provide a data processing agreement on request.

14. Confidentiality

Each of us will keep the other’s confidential information private and use it only to carry out the contract, except where the law requires us to share it.

15. Complaints

If you are not happy, please email info@garethdesign.co.uk with the details and I will aim to reply within 10 working days and put things right.

16. General

  • These terms, together with my quote, are the whole agreement. Changes must be agreed in writing.
  • If a part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest still applies.
  • Nobody other than you and me has the right to enforce these terms.
  • I may change these terms for future work. The terms in force on the day we agree the contract apply to that contract.
  • Notices may be sent by email to the address you gave me, or to my email address above.

17. Governing law

These terms and any dispute arising from them 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 a claim in the courts where you live.