Last updated 4 October 2026.
Who we are
Bearings is an independent, free funding and opportunities finder for Liverpool City Region businesses, run by Pete Woodbridge, who is the data controller for the personal data described here. Questions or requests about your data: use the contact form (choose "Data request").
Using the site
- No cookies and no tracking profiles. Bearings sets no cookies and uses no advertising or third-party analytics.
- Your business profile and saved opportunities stay on your device. They are kept in your own browser's storage and you can clear them at any time (the saved list has a "Clear all saved" button). The one exception: if you have signed up for alerts and opened your private alerts link, your saved list is also kept with your alerts (see below).
- Anonymous usage counts. To improve Bearings we count, in daily totals: page views, which opportunities are clicked or saved, which filters are used, what is typed in the search box, and whether alert emails are opened and their links clicked. These counts are not linked to you, your email address or your IP address. Please don't type personal details into the search box.
- Hosting. The site runs on Cloudflare, which, like any web host, processes technical data such as IP addresses to deliver pages and protect the service, under its own privacy policy.
Email alerts
If you sign up for alerts we store:
- your email address;
- the choices you made (sectors, organisation type, what you're looking for, location, minimum award, keywords, how often you want emails);
- a random link code (so only you can change your settings) and the date you signed up;
- once you've opened your private alerts link on a device, the opportunities and planned calls you save there, so your saved list is on every device you use and we can email you when a planned call you saved opens.
Why: to send you the alerts you asked for. Our lawful basis is your consent, which you give by signing up and confirming your address. You can withdraw it at any time.
Contact form: messages are forwarded to us by email so we can reply; they aren't stored on the site.
Who processes it: your details are stored on Cloudflare and emails are delivered by Resend, acting on our behalf. We never sell, share or rent your data, and never use it for anything except your Bearings alerts.
How long: until you unsubscribe — every email has a one-click unsubscribe, which deletes your address, settings and saved list immediately. If you sign up but never confirm, the request is deleted after 30 days.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask to see the data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or object to how it's used. Most of this you can do yourself from any alert email or the manage your alerts page; otherwise use the contact form. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Opportunity data
The opportunities on Bearings are read from providers' public web pages and open data feeds. They describe organisations' programmes, not individuals.