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:

• 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.

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Any additional benefits are optional, discretionary and may be introduced, changed, restricted, replaced, suspended or withdrawn at any time.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.

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.

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 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.

11 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.

12 Skills 2 Grow Business Awards

Skills 2 Grow may operate business awards, recognition programmes or member celebrations from time to time.

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.

13 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.

14 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.

15 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.

16 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 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.

17 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.

18 Contact

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