Terms, Cancellation & Refund Policy

1 About Skills 2 Grow

Skills 2 Grow provides business community membership, business directory services, general business support, consulting, training, workshops, networking opportunities and related educational services.

2 Membership and core benefits

Membership of the Skills 2 Grow Business Community is provided on a monthly subscription basis.

The monthly membership payment is primarily for the following core membership benefits:

• One focused 15-minute one-to-one check-in call with Julian during each paid monthly membership period, subject to booking and reasonable availability.
• A business listing within the Skills 2 Grow business directory, where the member is eligible to have a listing.
• Access to the relevant Skills 2 Grow WhatsApp Business Community.
• Ongoing access to general business guidance, practical tips and perspectives shared through the membership.
• A personalised digital membership certificate issued by Skills 2 Grow via Credential.net, subject to the certificate conditions in section 10.

Members are responsible for booking their monthly check-in using the booking arrangements made available. An unused check-in does not normally roll over or create a right to a refund. If Skills 2 Grow needs to cancel a confirmed check-in, a reasonable alternative will be offered.

Skills 2 Grow may choose to provide additional benefits, activities or opportunities from time to time. Any additional benefits are optional, discretionary and may be introduced, changed, restricted, replaced, suspended or withdrawn at any time.

Membership is personal to the subscribing member or registered business and must not be transferred or shared without prior written permission from Skills 2 Grow.

3 Free trial

Where a free trial is offered, eligible new members may receive a 30-day free trial before their first monthly membership payment.

A valid payment method may be required when starting the trial. Unless the subscription is cancelled before the trial ends, it will automatically convert into a paid monthly subscription and the applicable membership fee will be collected through Stripe.

Skills 2 Grow may restrict free trials to one trial per person, business, telephone number, email address or payment method.

4 Subscription payments

Paid membership fees are charged monthly in advance through Stripe using the payment method supplied by the member.

By subscribing, you authorise Skills 2 Grow and its payment provider to collect recurring membership payments until your subscription is cancelled.

Membership prices may vary according to the offer or membership rate available when you join. Any founding-member or promotional rate applies only under the conditions stated when the offer is made.

If a payment fails, access to membership services may be restricted or suspended while payment remains outstanding.

5 Cancelling your membership

You may cancel your membership at any time, with no minimum membership period and no requirement to provide a reason.

Cancel the subscription yourself

You may cancel through any Stripe customer portal or subscription management link made available to you.

Ask Skills 2 Grow to cancel it

You may email contact@skills2grow.co.uk and ask us to cancel your subscription for you.

To help us identify the correct subscription, please send the request from the email address connected to your membership and include your full name and business name.

Cancellation prevents future subscription renewals once processed. Unless otherwise agreed or required by law, cancellation does not automatically create a right to a refund for a billing period that has already begun.

We recommend sending any cancellation request as early as possible before your next scheduled payment date.

Where a valid cancellation request containing enough information to identify the subscription is received before the next renewal payment, the cancellation will be treated as effective from the date the request was received, even if administrative processing is completed later. Any renewal collected after that effective cancellation date will be corrected where appropriate.

6 Refund policy

Membership payments are normally non-refundable once the relevant paid membership period has started.

Cancelling a subscription stops future renewals but does not normally entitle the member to a full or partial refund for time remaining in the current billing period.

Duplicate payments, payments taken in error or other genuine payment mistakes will be investigated and corrected where appropriate.

Nothing in these terms affects any refund, cancellation or consumer rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Statutory consumer cancellation rights

These memberships are intended primarily for businesses and people pursuing business activities. If you nevertheless enter into the agreement as a consumer, meaning wholly or mainly for purposes outside your trade, business, craft or profession, you may have a statutory right to cancel a distance contract within 14 days of entering into it.

If you expressly request membership services to begin during that cancellation period and then exercise a statutory right to cancel, Skills 2 Grow may deduct or charge a proportionate amount for services supplied before cancellation where the law permits. Instructions for exercising any applicable statutory cancellation right will be provided with the required pre-contract information.

7 Suspension or cancellation by Skills 2 Grow

Skills 2 Grow reserves the right to refuse, suspend or cancel a membership at its discretion.

Cancellation unrelated to member conduct

Where Skills 2 Grow cancels an active membership at its discretion for an administrative, commercial or other reason that is unrelated to any breach, misconduct or action by the member, Skills 2 Grow will refund the member's most recent monthly membership invoice.

Cancellation because of a breach or misconduct

Where a membership is suspended or cancelled because the member has breached these terms, breached community rules or behaved inappropriately, the most recent monthly payment will not normally be refunded.

Reasons may include, but are not limited to:

• Abusive, aggressive, threatening or offensive language.
• Bullying, harassment or intimidation.
• Discrimination or hate speech.
• Unwanted private contact with another member.
• Spam or excessive unsolicited advertising.
• Misuse of another member's telephone number or information.
• Adding members to other groups without their permission.
• Fraudulent, dishonest or misleading conduct.
• Illegal activity or promotion of unlawful services.
• Repeated disruption of the WhatsApp Community.
• Conduct likely to cause harm to another member or Skills 2 Grow.
• Repeated or serious breaches of these terms.

This list is illustrative and is not exhaustive. Depending on the seriousness of the conduct, Skills 2 Grow may remove a member immediately and without a prior warning.

8 Member conduct

Members must communicate respectfully and professionally when using the directory, WhatsApp Community, events, workshops or any other Skills 2 Grow service.

Members agree not to:

• Use abusive, threatening, discriminatory or offensive language.
• Harass, bully, intimidate or pressure another person.
• Post unlawful, defamatory or deliberately misleading material.
• Repeatedly promote services outside permitted promotional discussions.
• Send unsolicited private sales or marketing messages.
• Misrepresent qualifications, experience, prices or business information.
• Share confidential information belonging to another person.
• Use the community in a way that damages its professional environment.

9 Business directory listings

Members are responsible for providing accurate, lawful and current information for their business directory listing.

Skills 2 Grow may refuse, edit, temporarily hide or remove content that is inaccurate, misleading, unlawful, inappropriate, technically unsuitable or inconsistent with the purpose of the directory.

Skills 2 Grow does not independently verify every claim, qualification, licence, insurance policy, review or statement supplied by a listed business. Directory users remain responsible for carrying out their own checks before purchasing goods or services.

A directory listing does not amount to a guarantee, endorsement or certification of the member's services.

10 Digital membership certificate

Eligible members may receive a personalised digital membership certificate issued by Skills 2 Grow via Credential.net or another credential-verification provider selected by Skills 2 Grow.

The certificate confirms that the named person or business is a Skills 2 Grow member for the validity period shown, provided that the membership remains active and all membership payments are up to date.

Members are responsible for supplying accurate names and business details. Skills 2 Grow may correct, reissue, suspend, withdraw or revoke a certificate where information is inaccurate, a payment fails, membership ends, these terms are breached or the certificate is used in a misleading way.

A certificate may be displayed or shared only in its original form. Members must not alter it, remove its verification details or use it to imply approval, accreditation or endorsement beyond active membership of Skills 2 Grow. When membership ends, the certificate must no longer be presented as current or active.

Credential.net is a third-party service. Skills 2 Grow cannot guarantee uninterrupted access to third-party verification pages and may use a suitable replacement provider if necessary.

11 Workshops, events and additional benefits

The monthly membership fee is paid for the core directory and WhatsApp Community benefits described in these terms. Workshops, events, discounts, articles, awards, training, promotional opportunities and other additional benefits are provided only where Skills 2 Grow chooses to make them available.

Where an activity is provided, Skills 2 Grow may decide whether it will be delivered:

• Face to face.
• Online.
• Through a live webinar or video conference.
• Through recorded or written educational material.
• At a venue, date or time selected by Skills 2 Grow.

Skills 2 Grow may change the date, time, location, speaker, content, availability or delivery method of an activity. It may also postpone or cancel an activity entirely.

No membership refund or compensation will normally be payable because a workshop or event does not take place, is postponed, has limited spaces, changes venue or is delivered online instead of in person.

12 WhatsApp Business Community

Access to a Skills 2 Grow WhatsApp Business Community is one of the core membership benefits.

Depending on your personal WhatsApp privacy settings, other members may also be able to see your WhatsApp profile name, profile photograph, business information, status or other information made visible through WhatsApp.

Members must not privately contact another member using details obtained through the community unless:

• The other member has given prior permission.
• The other member has specifically invited relevant private contact.
• The message is a reasonable response to a direct request made by that member.

Prohibited conduct includes:

• Unsolicited private sales messages.
• Unwanted advertising or marketing.
• Persistent or repeated unwanted contact.
• Harassment or inappropriate personal messages.
• Adding members to another group without permission.
• Copying, storing or using members' numbers for unrelated marketing.

Skills 2 Grow may suspend or cancel the membership of anyone who misuses another member's contact information or privately contacts members without appropriate permission. Where cancellation is due to such misconduct, no refund will normally be provided.

Skills 2 Grow does not control the individual conduct, devices, privacy settings or independent actions of every community member. Members join the WhatsApp Community acknowledging this limitation.

Anyone who receives unwanted contact should block the sender within WhatsApp where appropriate and report the matter to Skills 2 Grow so that it can be considered.

13 Business Awards

Membership does not guarantee that an awards programme will take place and does not guarantee nomination, shortlisting, recognition or receipt of an award.

Eligibility, categories, selection procedures and final decisions remain at the discretion of Skills 2 Grow.

14 General information, advice and liability

Information and opinions may be shared through private messages, WhatsApp discussions, community conversations, consultations, workshops, events, emails, telephone calls, articles, social media, website content and other communication channels.

Members must carry out their own research, check the accuracy and suitability of information and obtain advice from an appropriately qualified professional where necessary.

Every member remains solely responsible for their own business, financial, contractual, employment, legal and operational decisions.

Skills 2 Grow accepts no liability for a decision, action, loss, expense, missed opportunity, dispute or other outcome arising from information, opinions, suggestions, recommendations or discussions shared privately or within the WhatsApp Community, except where liability cannot lawfully be excluded.

Statements made by individual members are their own opinions and do not necessarily represent the position, recommendation or approval of Skills 2 Grow.

15 No guarantee of results

Skills 2 Grow provides general information, community opportunities and business support in good faith. However, no particular result is guaranteed.

Skills 2 Grow does not guarantee:

• Business growth or profitability.
• New clients, customers, sales or referrals.
• Search engine positions or website traffic.
• Social media reach, followers or engagement.
• Successful funding or finance applications.
• Award nominations or recognition.
• That members will recommend or purchase from one another.
• That any information supplied by another member is accurate.

16 Changes to membership and these terms

Skills 2 Grow may update these terms, its community arrangements, membership benefits, directory features, prices or operational processes from time to time.

Where a material change directly affects an existing paid member, reasonable notice will normally be provided where practical.

Continued use of the membership after updated terms take effect may constitute acceptance of the revised terms.

17 Privacy and personal information

Personal information is handled in accordance with the Skills 2 Grow Privacy Policy and applicable data protection requirements.

Information supplied for a business directory listing may be displayed publicly.

Where a digital membership certificate is issued, the member's name or business name, credential identifier, issue date, expiry date and current verification status may be displayed on a public credential-verification page. Certificate information is handled in accordance with the Skills 2 Grow Privacy Policy and the relevant provider's privacy terms.

Where a member voluntarily joins a WhatsApp Community or group, their telephone number and certain profile information may be visible to other participants in accordance with WhatsApp's functionality and the member's personal privacy settings.

18 Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

Nothing in these terms removes any legal right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded.

19 Contact

Questions, concerns and cancellation requests can be sent using the details below.