Privacy Policy

About this policy

At Birmingham Royal Ballet we take your privacy seriously. We promise to respect any personal data you share with us and keep it safe.

This policy explains who we are, what information we collect, how and why we use it, how it is stored, how we fundraise, which partners we work with, and your rights regarding any information you share with us.

We will use any personal information we collect about you in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act (DPA 2018), the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, and the Data (Use and Access) Act. We aim to be clear when we handle your data, and not do anything you would not reasonably expect.

By visiting www.brb.org.uk or by giving us your data via any other source you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.

This privacy policy outlines how we process any data records we hold such as:

• Ticket buyers, Friends, Dancers’ Circle supporters, donors, BRB email subscribers, and online users
• Merchandise buyers
• Participants in our Learning, Engagement, Access, and Participation (LEAP) activities
• Auditionees, Job/paid for opportunity applicants, and work experience applicants
• Stakeholders, suppliers, and industry contacts

Please read this information carefully, as by providing your data to us you acknowledge you have read this policy and understand we will process your data in accordance with its terms.

Who we are

Birmingham Royal Ballet (ICO registration Z5128252) is the data controller for any personal information we process.

Birmingham Royal Ballet is a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, with company number 03320538, charity number 1061012 and registered office at Thorp Street, Birmingham, B5 4AU.

For this policy “BRB,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Contact us

Questions, comments, and requests about this Privacy Policy are welcomed.
Email: yourdata@brb.org.uk 
Write to: Birmingham Royal Ballet, Thorp Street, Birmingham, B5 4AU. 

Data protection complaints – how to raise a concern

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your personal data, you can raise a data protection complaint with us. This process applies only to concerns about personal data – other issues should be raised through our general complaints process.

You can contact us by email or post (see details above). You don’t need to use legal language, just explain your concern. If you’re complaining on someone else’s behalf, please include proof that you’re authorised to act for them.

We will:

• Acknowledge and respond to your complaint within 30 days
• Investigate it without unnecessary delay
• Contact you if more information is needed
• Keep you updated on progress
• Provide a clear and prompt outcome

If you remain unhappy, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at any time.
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org

Data collection

You give us your information when you:

• visit our website
• create or update your Birmingham Royal Ballet account on our website
• sign up to our mailing list to hear about performances, events, and ways to support BRB
• sign up to receive information about ballet training opportunities
• sign up to receive information about student offers and opportunities
• buy a ticket directly from us
• make a purchase from our shop
• donate
• are the executor of a will which includes a legacy to BRB (or a legal firm representing an executor)
• join BRB Friends or Dancers’ Circle
• become a corporate partner or sponsor
• take part in one of our Learning, Engagement, Access, and Participation (LEAP) activities or programmes
• enter a competition
• respond to a survey
• supply goods or services to us
• pay us for goods or services
• submit an audition
• apply for a job/paid for opportunity
• apply to volunteer with us
• communicate with us by post, email, telephone, social media, via our websites, or in person
• visit our premises

We may also collect data ourselves. We do this when we are researching and approaching people who might support us philanthropically or who might want to buy tickets from us. Details of the types of data collected are given below.

Cookies

We receive and store certain details whenever you use the BRB website. A cookie records on your device information relating to your internet activity (such as whether you have visited our website before). The cookies we send to your device only relate to your use of our website; they do not have any other effect on your device.

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and allows us to improve our site. For more information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie policy.

Types of personal data we collect 

We collect the following types of personal data:

Ticket buyers, Friends, Dancers’ Circle supporters, donors, BRB email subscribers, and online users

We may collect or store the following information from you when you buy a ticket or other item from us, join a supporter scheme, donate, attend a performance or event, visit our website or premises, or contact us with an enquiry.

• Title, first name(s), and last name
• Pronouns
• Contact details including organisation/company name and job title (if appropriate), postal address, email address, and telephone number(s)
• Date of birth
• Communication preferences
• Interests
• Supporter scheme level
• Ticketing, supporter scheme, and/or donation history
• Transaction history including billing and payment card information (last four digits and card expiry data)
• Bank details including account name, number, and sort code if you set up a direct debit with us
• Gift Aid declaration
• Social media handle
• Image and likeness (as captured in photographs and videos we may use for promotional purposes subject to permission having been obtained where relevant)
• Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website, or in person
• Employment, social, wealth and family information if and where it is relevant to tailoring our approaches to you appropriately

Sensitive information 

Some of the information we collect is considered "special category" data, which is more sensitive and requires higher levels of protection. We have strict safeguards in place to ensure this data is handled responsibly. We only process this type of information in limited circumstances, such as:

• With your explicit written consent.
• Reporting aggregated anonymous data to our funders.

We collect the following types of data:

• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Gender identity
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Socio-economic background
• Medical and health information such as access need, allergies, and dietary requirements

We sometimes request sensitive personal data in our audience surveys (such as ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity, disability, neurodiversity, socio-economic background, and sexual orientation) to help us with our diversity monitoring and funder reporting. This data is not obligatory to provide, is analysed anonymously, and not linked to individual customer records.

Online information

We gather technical information when you visit our website to help us keep our website secure, make sure it works properly, and improve how it runs for users. This includes the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, and platform.

Our website uses “cookies” to store information about how it is used, helping us improve services, analyse activity, and support transactions. Cookies are small text files saved by your browser that enhance your experience by remembering preferences or user details. You can choose whether to accept cookies on your device. Read our full Cookie Policy here.

We keep a record of the communications we send you, and we may track whether you receive or open electronic communications so that we can ensure we are sending you the most relevant information.

We use social media to provide updates on our activities, to promote events and projects, or to communicate with you about the activities in which you are involved. We may tailor adverts on social media and elsewhere online relevant to your interests. Depending on your own privacy settings with each social media provider, you can control BRB’s permission to access information via social media platforms.

Advertising using Meta (Facebook & Instagram)

We use Meta’s advertising services (including Facebook and Instagram) to show our adverts to people who may be interested in our services.

This means:

• We may upload limited customer or website user data (such as email addresses) to Meta so that they can match it to user accounts and create “custom audiences”.
• We may also ask Meta to create “lookalike audiences”, which helps us reach people with similar characteristics to our existing customers.
• Meta may use cookies, pixels or similar technologies on our website to track visits and interactions, so that we can measure the effectiveness of our advertising and show relevant adverts.

Meta acts as a separate data controller for the data it processes for its own purposes. You can find more information in Meta’s privacy policy.

You can withdraw your consent or adjust your cookie preferences at any time – read more in our Cookie Policy.

Data from third parties 

We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third-party sources, for example:

• If someone buys a BRB product (eg an item from our shop or signs you up to BRB Friends or Dancers' Circle) for you as a gift, your contact details will be supplied to us.
• If you consent to share your data with BRB when booking for one of our events with another organisation.
• If we engage an external photographer or videographer to capture events.
• From our Board of Directors, The Governors of the Royal Ballet Companies, or members of BRB staff eg if they wish to invite you to a performance or event, or if we think you may be interested in supporting the work of BRB.
• Publicly available online information, such as information found in places such as Companies House, the electoral roll, property and housing market websites, official company website, your profile on social media, or information that has been published in articles/ newspapers.

Merchandise buyers

We may collect or store the following information from you when you buy an item from our online shop or directly from us.

• Title, first name(s), and last name
• Pronouns
• Contact details including organisation/company name and job title (if appropriate), postal address, email address and telephone number(s)
• Communication preferences
• Purchase history
• Transaction history including billing and payment card information (last four digits and card expiry data)
• Bank details including account name, number, and sort code 

Participants in our Learning, Engagement, Access, and Participation (LEAP) activities

We may collect or store the following information from you when you take part in one of our Learning, Engagement, Access, and Participation (LEAP) activities, apply to join one of our schemes, attend a performance or event, visit our website or premises, or contact us with an enquiry.

• First name(s) and last name of participant and parent/guardian/carer where needed
• Pronouns
• Contact details of participant including postal address, email address and telephone number(s) and parent/guardian/carer where needed
• Emergency/Next of Kin contact first name, last name, telephone number(s), and relationship to participant
• Date of birth and age
• School/place of education name, address, email address(s), headteacher first name and last name, teacher first name and last name, school year, and school group
• Communication preferences
• Image and likeness (as captured in photographs and videos we may use for promotional purposes subject to permission having been obtained where relevant)
• If you are a teacher with whom we have a professional relationship, your professional email, the name, address, and telephone number of school/college, the type of school/college, key stage, year group, and subject taught
• Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website, or in person

Sensitive information 

Some of the information we collect is considered 'special category' data, which is more sensitive and requires higher levels of protection. We have strict safeguards in place to ensure this data is handled responsibly. We only process this type of information in limited circumstances, such as:

• With your explicit written consent.
• Reporting aggregated anonymous data to our funders.

We collect the following types of data: 

• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Gender identity
• Religious or philosophical beliefs  
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Socio-economic background
• Medical and health information such as access needs, allergies, and dietary requirements

We want our activities to be inclusive and accessible to all. We sometimes request sensitive personal data (such as ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity, disability, neurodiversity, socio-economic background, and sexual orientation) when you join our one of our schemes to help us with our diversity monitoring and funder reporting. This data is not obligatory to provide, is analysed anonymously, and not linked to individual participant records.

Data from third parties

We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third-party sources, for example:

• We may ask parents/guardians/carers or schools to supply information about under 18s for participation in our projects or for performance licensing purposes.
• If we engage an external photographer or videographer to capture events.
• If your details are given as an emergency contact for a supporter of one of our schemes or projects.

Auditionees, job/paid for opportunity applicants, and work experience applicants

We may collect or store the following information from you when you submit an audition to BRB, apply for a job or a paid opportunity with us, apply to do work experience with us, visit our website or premises, or contact us with an enquiry.

• Title, first name, and last name
• Pronouns
• Contact details including postal address, email address, and telephone number(s)
• Contact details of auditionee/applicant including postal address, email address, and telephone number(s) and parent/guardian/carer where needed
• Emergency/Next of Kin contact first name, last name, telephone number(s), and relationship to auditionee/applicant
• Date of birth and age
• Work experience, education, qualifications, and career information
• Image and likeness as captured on audition videos
• Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website, or in person

Sensitive information 

Some of the information we collect is considered "special category" data, which is more sensitive and requires higher levels of protection. We have strict safeguards in place to ensure this data is handled responsibly. We only process this type of information in limited circumstances, such as:

• With your explicit written consent.
• Reporting aggregated anonymous data to our funders.
• For equal opportunities monitoring in the public interest.

We collect the following types of data: 

• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Gender identity
• Religious or philosophical beliefs  
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Socio-economic background
• Medical and health information such as access needs, allergies, and dietary requirements

Data from third parties

We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third-party sources, for example:

• Referees may provide information to us about your experience and competence.
• Contact details and employment history from recruitment agencies, when used to fill a position.
• Publicly available online information, such as information found in places such as Companies House, your biography on your work website, or information that has been published in articles/ newspapers.
• From our Board of Directors, The Governors of the Royal Ballet Companies, or members of BRB staff eg if they wish to invite you to a performance or event.

Stakeholders, suppliers, and industry contacts

We may collect or store the following information from you when you supply goods/services to us, purchase services from us eg hire a space within BRB, are recommended to us, attend a performance or event, visit our website or premises, or contact us with an enquiry.

• Company/organisation name
• Designated contact first name and last name
• Contact details including postal address, email address(es), and telephone number(s)
• Bank details including account number and sort code
• VAT and Tax numbers
• Record of goods/services provided/received
• Communication preferences
• Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website, or in person

Data from third parties

We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third-party sources, for example:

• Recommendations from other organisations/clients.
• If we engage an external photographer or videographer to capture events.
• From our Board of Directors, The Governors of the Royal Ballet Companies, or members of BRB staff eg if they wish to recommend your services or invite you to a performance or event.
• Publicly available online information, such as information found in places such as Companies House, the electoral roll, property and housing market websites, official company website, your profile on LinkedIn, or information that has been published in articles/ newspapers.

Use of data

We will use your information for the purposes listed below under one of the following lawful bases:

• Performance of a contract between us and you
• Your consent (where we need it)
• To comply with a legal obligation
• Our legitimate interests (except where such interests are overridden by the interests, rights, or freedoms of the individual)

The ways in which we use your data are listed below:

Ticket buyers, Friends, Dancers’ Circle supporters, donors, BRB email subscribers, and online users 

We use the information we hold to:

Fundraising and profiling

As a charity, we rely on fundraising to support our projects and ongoing work. We keep a record of your donations, including payments related to supporter schemes, in our database. To make our fundraising and marketing communications more relevant to you, we use some of the personal information we collect, such as the events you have attended and your stated interests, to tailor what we send you.

We also carry out research and analysis to ensure we fundraise effectively and use your contributions wisely. This includes

• Segmentation – We analyse information like postcodes, donation history, and regular giving to better understand our supporters and share relevant fundraising opportunities with you.
• Database Records – We may keep other relevant details you provide (eg when booking tickets or donating), as well as publicly available information, and data you have consented to share with us.
• Supporter Research – Occasionally, we research our supporters and potential donors using publicly available sources like Trustfunding, Zoopla, LinkedIn, and Companies House. This helps us tailor our outreach and understand which events may interest you. We may ask third party contractors to do this for us. If we do this, they are not permitted to retain any personal information provided by us, nor to use it for any other purpose.
• Profiling – we may occasionally carry out work which would be regarded as profiling within the meaning of the UK GDPR. For example, we might use a mathematical model to help us determine who to invite to a specific event, or who to send fundraising materials to. You have a right to ask us not to do this if you wish – email development@brb.org.uk

Before accepting major donations, we conduct due diligence, including reviewing publicly available data, in line with our gift acceptance policy.

Merchandise buyers

We use the information we hold to:

Participants in our Learning, Engagement, Access, and Participation (LEAP) activities

We use the information we hold to:

Auditionees, job/paid for opportunity applicants, and work experience applicants

We use the information we hold to:

Stakeholders, suppliers, and industry contacts

We use the information we hold to:

Sharing your data with third parties 

Unless you give us your consent, the personal information that you give us will only be shared with third parties where we are obliged or permitted by law to disclose it, we need to use the services of ‘data processors’ to fulfil your requirements, to support analysis and research for BRB or the Arts Sector, or for reporting to our funders.

We may disclose your personal information to third parties:

• If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data to comply with any legal obligation, for example HMRC to facilitate Gift Aid claims
• To enforce or apply terms of use or terms and conditions of supply and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Birmingham Royal Ballet, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

We store most personal data within the UK and/or the European Economic Area (EEA). This includes information held in our Customer Relationship Management system, Spektrix, and by our website provider, Supercool.

We also work with a small number of suppliers who process data outside the UK/EEA, such as Shopify and Dotdigital. When we use services based in other countries, we make sure they apply protections that meet UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. This includes putting appropriate data‑sharing agreements in place and checking that their security standards are robust.

For further detail on how we use personal data, please see the Use of Data section above.

The ways in which we share data with third party organisations are listed below:

Ticket buyers, Friends, Dancers’ Circle supporters, donors, BRB email subscribers, and online users

We may share your data with third party organisations as follows:

Merchandise Buyers

We may share your data with third party organisations as follows:

Participants in our Learning, Engagement, Access, and Participation (LEAP) activities

We may share your data with third party organisations as follows:

Auditionees, job/paid for opportunity applicants, and work experience applicants

We may share your data with third party organisations as follows:

Stakeholders, suppliers, and industry contacts

We may share your data with third party organisations as follows:

Keeping your data secure 

We take every precaution to protect your personal data, and we hold regular security reviews to ensure that the website is safe and secure for your protection. 

Your data is processed and stored in secure systems and digital environments. If we need to share personal data with a third party, we ensure that data sharing agreements are in place.

Access to personal data is strictly controlled; only authorised and trained employees and approved contractors/developers are granted access to personally identifiable information. This will be from time to time, and only when they need to perform a specific job or task. 

How long we keep your data

We will keep personal data for no longer than is strictly necessary, having regard to the original purpose for which the data was processed. Our retention periods are detailed below:

Ticket buyers, Friends, Dancers’ Circle supporters, donors, BRB email subscribers, and online users

We will store data in our database system(s) for a maximum of seven years after your last engagement with us, through ticket purchases, or supporter scheme purchases. At that point, your data will be deleted, no longer processed, and you will cease to receive communications from us, unless there is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution.

Many of our supporters have a lifelong connection with BRB and experience tells us that they continue to enjoy hearing from BRB even after they are unable to come to performances or to support us any longer. For this reason, we will keep information on donors and volunteers until we are informed that they have died. Any supporter may ask us to stop communicating with them and/or remove their data at any time, subject to any legal requirement we may have to keep data for audit or other governance purposes.

Merchandise buyers

If you place an order though our shop, data will be stored in Shopify for a maximum of seven years after your purchase.

Participants in our Learning, Engagement, Access, and Participation (LEAP) activities

We will store data in our database system(s) for a maximum of seven years after your last engagement with us, through participating in our work, or requesting to be kept up to date with our activities. If you are under 18 then we will retain your data until you reach the age of 24. At that point, your data will be deleted, no longer processed, and you will cease to receive communications from us, unless there is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution.

Auditionees, job/paid for opportunity applicants, and work experience applicants

For unsuccessful applicants, we will store data in our HR systems for 6 months following your application, at which point it will be deleted, unless:

• There is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution.
• You consent to our keeping your data on file to keep you informed of other suitable opportunities.

Stakeholders, suppliers, and industry contacts 

We will store data in our database and finance system(s) for as long as you continue to purchase services from us, supply us with goods and/or services, or 6 years plus the current tax year, where the relationship is not ongoing. At that point, your data will be deleted and no longer processed, unless there is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution.

Giving you control

Your individual rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

• Your right of access: you have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
• Your right to rectification: you have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
• Your right to erasure: you have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to restriction of processing: you have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to object to processing: you have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to data portability: you have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
• Your right related to automated decision-making including profiling: you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.
• Your right to raise a concern or make a complaint to the ICO if you are dissatisfied with how we handle your personal data.

Where you have provided your consent to the collection, processing, and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact us as set out at the beginning of this Privacy Policy. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to.

How to update your data

Ticket buyers, Friends, Dancers’ Circle supporters, donors, BRB email subscribers, and online users

• Manage your own details in your online BRB Account
• Contact yourdata@brb.org.uk
• Use the preference/unsubscribe links in our emails 

Merchandise buyers

• Contact yourdata@brb.org.uk 

Participants in our Learning, Engagement, Access, and Participation (LEAP) activities

• Contact yourdata@brb.org.uk or your regular BRB contact
• Use the unsubscribe link in our emails where applicable

Auditionees, job/paid for opportunity applicants, and work experience applicants

• If you are an auditionee email auditions@brb.org.uk or your regular BRB contact
• If you are applying for a job/paid for opportunity or work experience, email HR@brb.org.uk or your regular BRB contact

Stakeholders, suppliers, and industry contacts 

• If you are a supplier, contact accounts@brb.org.uk or your regular BRB contact
• If you are an industry contact email yourdata@brb.org.uk

Change to this policy

We may change or update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any significant changes will be communicated on our website or by contacting you directly.

Last updated 11 August 2026