Terms and conditions of use

  1. Introduction
    1. These terms and conditions shall govern your use of our website.
    2. By using our website, you accept these terms and conditions in full; accordingly, if you disagree with these terms and conditions or any part of these terms and conditions, you must not use our website.
    3. If you register with our website, submit any material to our website or use any of our website services, we will ask you to expressly agree to these terms and conditions.
    4. Our website uses cookies; by using our website or agreeing to these terms and conditions, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of our privacy policy and cookies policy.
  2. Copyright notice
    1. Copyright (c) 2018 Aspire Creative LLP
    2. Subject to the express provisions of these terms and conditions:
      1. we, together with our licensors, own and control all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and the material on our website; and
      2. all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and the material on our website are reserved.
  3. Licence to use website
    1. You may:
      1. view pages from our website in a web browser;
      2. download pages from our website for caching in a web browser;
      3. print pages from our website;
      4. stream audio and video files from our website; and
      5. subject to the other provisions of these terms and conditions.
    2. You may only use our website for your own personal and business purposes, and you must not use our website for any other purposes.
    3. Except as expressly permitted by these terms and conditions, you must not edit or otherwise modify any material on our website.
    4. Unless you own or control the relevant rights in the material, you must not:
      1. republish material from our website (including republication on another website);
      2. sell, rent or sub-license material from our website;
      3. show any material from our website in public;
      4. exploit material from our website for a commercial purpose; or
      5. redistribute material from our website.
    5. We reserve the right to restrict access to areas of our website, or indeed our whole website, at our discretion; you must not circumvent or bypass, or attempt to circumvent or bypass, any access restriction measures on our website.
  4. Acceptable use
    1. You must not:
      1. use our website in any way or take any action that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the performance, availability or accessibility of the website;
      2. use our website in any way that is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity;
      3. use our website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software;
      4. conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including without limitation scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting on or in relation to our website without our express written consent;
      5. access or otherwise interact with our website using any robot, spider or other automated means, except for the purpose of search engine indexing;
      6. violate the directives set out in the robots.txt file for our website; or
      7. use data collected from our website for any direct marketing activity (including without limitation email marketing, SMS marketing, telemarketing and direct mailing).
    2. You must not use data collected from our website to contact individuals, companies or other persons or entities.
    3. You must ensure that all the information you supply to us through our website, or in relation to our website, is true, accurate, current, complete and non-misleading.
  5. Your content: licence
    1. In these terms and conditions, "your content" means all works and materials (including without limitation text, graphics, images, audio material, video material, audio-visual material, scripts, software and files) that you submit to us or our website for storage or publication on, processing by, or transmission via, our website.
    2. You grant to us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, store, adapt, publish, translate and distribute your content in any existing or future media.
    3. You grant to us the right to sub-license the rights licensed under Section 8.2.
    4. You grant to us the right to bring an action for infringement of the rights licensed under Section 8.2.
    5. You hereby waive all your moral rights in your content to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law; and you warrant and represent that all other moral rights in your content have been waived to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.
    6. You may edit your content to the extent permitted using the editing functionality made available on our website.
    7. Without prejudice to our other rights under these terms and conditions, if you breach any provision of these terms and conditions in any way, or if we reasonably suspect that you have breached these terms and conditions in any way, we may delete, unpublish or edit any or all of your content.
  6. Limited warranties
    1. We do not warrant or represent:
      1. the completeness or accuracy of the information published on our website;
      2. that the material on the website is up to date; or
      3. that the website or any service on the website will remain available.
    2. We reserve the right to discontinue or alter any or all of our website services, and to stop publishing our website, at any time in our sole discretion without notice or explanation; and save to the extent expressly provided otherwise in these terms and conditions, you will not be entitled to any compensation or other payment upon the discontinuance or alteration of any website services, or if we stop publishing the website.
    3. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law and subject to Section 10.1, we exclude all representations and warranties relating to the subject matter of these terms and conditions, our website and the use of our website.
  7. Limitations and exclusions of liability
    1. Nothing in these terms and conditions will:
      1. limit or exclude any liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence;
      2. limit or exclude any liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
      3. limit any liabilities in any way that is not permitted under applicable law; or
      4. exclude any liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law.
    2. The limitations and exclusions of liability set out in this Section 10 and elsewhere in these terms and conditions:
      1. are subject to Section 10.1; and
      2. govern all liabilities arising under these terms and conditions or relating to the subject matter of these terms and conditions, including liabilities arising in contract, in tort (including negligence) and for breach of statutory duty, except to the extent expressly provided otherwise in these terms and conditions.
    3. To the extent that our website and the information and services on our website are provided free of charge, we will not be liable for any loss or damage of any nature.
    4. We will not be liable to you in respect of any losses arising out of any event or events beyond our reasonable control.
    5. We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including (without limitation) loss of or damage to profits, income, revenue, use, production, anticipated savings, business, contracts, commercial opportunities or goodwill.
    6. We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss or corruption of any data, database or software.
    7. We will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage.
    8. You accept that we have an interest in limiting the personal liability of our officers and employees and, having regard to that interest, you acknowledge that we are a limited liability entity; you agree that you will not bring any claim personally against our officers or employees in respect of any losses you suffer in connection with the website or these terms and conditions (this will not, of course, limit or exclude the liability of the limited liability entity itself for the acts and omissions of our officers and employees).
  8. Breaches of these terms and conditions
    1. Without prejudice to our other rights under these terms and conditions, if you breach these terms and conditions in any way, or if we reasonably suspect that you have breached these terms and conditions in any way, we may:
      1. send you one or more formal warnings;
      2. temporarily suspend your access to our website;
      3. permanently prohibit you from accessing our website;
      4. block computers using your IP address from accessing our website;
      5. contact any or all of your internet service providers and request that they block your access to our website;
      6. commence legal action against you, whether for breach of contract or otherwise.
  9. Variation
    1. We may revise these terms and conditions from time to time.
    2. The revised terms and conditions shall apply to the use of our website from the date of publication of the revised terms and conditions on the website, and you hereby waive any right you may otherwise have to be notified of, or to consent to, revisions of these terms and conditions.
    3. If you have given your express agreement to these terms and conditions, we will ask for your express agreement to any revision of these terms and conditions; and if you do not give your express agreement to the revised terms and conditions within such period as we may specify, we will disable or delete your account on the website if you have an account, and you must stop using the website.
  10. Assignment
    1. You hereby agree that we may assign, transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with our rights and/or obligations under these terms and conditions.
    2. You may not without our prior written consent assign, transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with any of your rights and/or obligations under these terms and conditions.
  11. Severability
    1. If a provision of these terms and conditions is determined by any court or other competent authority to be unlawful and/or unenforceable, the other provisions will continue in effect.
    2. If any unlawful and/or unenforceable provision of these terms and conditions would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, that part will be deemed to be deleted, and the rest of the provision will continue in effect.
  12. Third party rights
    1. A contract under these terms and conditions is for our benefit and your benefit, and is not intended to benefit or be enforceable by any third party.
    2. The exercise of the parties' rights under a contract under these terms and conditions is not subject to the consent of any third party.
  13. Entire agreement
    1. These terms and conditions, together with our privacy policy and cookies policy, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to your use of our website and shall supersede all previous agreements between you and us in relation to your use of our website.
  14. Law and jurisdiction
    1. These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law.
    2. Any disputes relating to these terms and conditions shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
  15. Our details
    1. This website is owned and operated by Aspire Creative LLP.
    2. We are registered in England and Wales under registration number OC310838, and our registered office is at Aspire Creative LLP, Technology Centre, Advanced Manufacturing Park, Brunel Way, Catcliffe, South Yorkshire, UK, S60 5WG
    3. Our principal place of business is the same as our registered address.
    4. You can contact us:
      1. by post, to the postal address given above;
      2. using our website contact form;
      3. by telephone, on the contact number published on our website from time to time;

Aspire Creative ICO Registration reference: ZA028629

Please also see our Privacy Centre.

Our Open Policy


Terms and conditions need to be in place for any business – but when we formed Aspire Creative, we did so with a policy quite different to other agencies to provide a point of difference, to dispel the main concerns many prospects seemed to have about design agencies – and to provide a more open way of working with the client.

Here we’ve highlighted how we think we’re a little different and this forms our ‘Open Policy’;

  • We’re open – an obvious place to start – but we’re always trying to improve our transparency and make projects as easy as possible for the client. Every client conversation forms the basis for our next improvement, so always feel free to ask us questions and make suggestions about anything.
  • Helping you out - design time is our lifeblood, but that doesn’t mean there’s a bill at the end of everything. If you’re stuck or it’s a very quick task we’ll always try and help you free of charge.
  • Best foot forward – we aim to go the extra mile and provide added value when providing our services. This takes shape in many different forms – from advice; to ideas we’ve seen elsewhere; to tools and processes we’ve thought about and put in place to make your life as a client easier.
  • Sticking to quotes - the company ethos is to keep to the quotes we have supplied. While factors outside of our control (paper price rises, inflation) sometimes mean a change to quotations both Aspire Creative and our suppliers have the same ethos to minimise client frustration.
  • Ongoing relationship – this is what we really value – and we have a range of ways we can structure our services and billing if we are to work together ongoing. Some clients like to work on a project by project basis, some like to have retainer contracts with us. We’ll work with you to find the best solution for your projects and your budget.
  • Stock imagery - we don’t charge for stock imagery from our Thinkstock subscription account that are used for your project.
  • No copyright fees for source artwork - most agencies charge an additional copyright fee for the source files (Photoshop, InDesign, etc.). In some cases this can run into the thousands of pounds if the relationship sours. Really, you shouldn’t need these unless you’re unhappy with our service or you have special circumstances. Our view is that if you’re unhappy with us, that’s our fault and we can supply these to you. If you have special requirements then just let us know, we’ll ensure the files are correct for the purpose and even send them to the supplier for you. Please let us know; we can then supply the files to the right specification and whilst there may be a charge for time if the request is complicated (i.e. we have to rework the artwork), we’ll aim to keep it easy and cost effective for you.

Combined, these simple ways of working and overall ethos creates our ‘Open Policy’. We call it this as we don’t skirt around the issue and believe design and marketing agency services shouldn’t be a ‘dark art’.

Following are our terms and conditions. These have been specifically written in plain English rather than in contract terms, but generally speaking they accurately represent the contracts we sign with clients when engaged.

As ever, if there are any concerns or questions please email your Account Director or the Managing Partner, Marc Hughes ([email protected]).

Aspire Creative agency terms and conditions (plain English)


  1. All costs provided exclude VAT where applicable and are valid for thirty days from the date of the quotation. Wherever possible we stick to budgets, but this is to cover us for things such as inflationary rises and increases in paper costs.
  1. The costs provided when quoting are guide prices based upon what we anticipate the creative, time and production requirements to be based on previous experience and on typical processes, plus client co- operation in provision of content, meeting deadlines and approval. Within reason, additional charges may be payable if there are significant variations to this, although the client would be made aware of this well in advance. Charges are unlikely to deviate from those quoted unless requirements change significantly.
  1. No creative or development work will commence until the agency has received approval of the quotation. On first projects for new clients, a minimum deposit of 50% of the agreed costs (unless otherwise agreed in writing) is required. On some other larger projects we may ask for a similar deposit. This ensures that the agency is fully equipped to provide the very highest levels of service and expertise, from project inception through to completion. In some rare cases this may also apply if a project is delivered in ‘stages’, whereby a deposit will be required before proceeding to each new stage. Whatever the project, we can generally structure billing to meet your requirements.
  1. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, we will issue an invoice for the balance of payment on project completion (e.g. on delivery of printed items, publishing of website, sending of e-shot etc.). Failure to make final payment at this point may result in delays in project delivery.
  1. Wherever possible, we aim to bill to agreed stages. If the project greatly exceeds the estimated timeline agreed, and we have worked on the project, we reserve the right to bill for the amount of work we have completed at the end of the month. As our lifeblood is the time we work on projects, this helps us be a profitable agency, and keeps everything tidy and up to date. We have systems in place to ensure that billing is not complex for you, and at all times aim to strike the right balance between a happy client, ease of working with each other, and running a profitable agency.
  1. Any printing, fulfilment, mailing or third-party services that are provided by the agency will generally be billed upon delivery of the items on 30 day terms. Some third party suppliers may require upfront payments, which we are happy to pay on your behalf. In this instance we write you an invoice on 7 day terms to give you some time to pay.
  1. Unless otherwise stated above or previously agreed in writing, all invoices are due within 30 days of any invoice date.
  1. Work generally commences very quickly/immediately after the quotation has been agreed. Any anticipated completion date provided by the agency is subject to options chosen and client co-operation in provision of information, resource (logos, images etc.) and approval. Aspire Creative always ensures its very best to ensure that agreed timelines are adhered to, but please be aware that circumstances, amends requested, or additional requirements may potentially result in a change in timescales. Timelines provided are estimated but the agency will not be held liable if the project over-runs due to delays caused by the client passing information or approval, or any third party issues or force majeure (act of God).
  1. Costs provided allow for presentation of a minimum of two creative options per brief for the client to choose from. In the unlikely event that the client is not satisfied with the first round of presented work, the agency will develop further rounds of additional creative development and presentation.
  1. Costs provided allow for a sensible amount of time to handle three sets of client amends after which time additional charges may become payable, although the client would be made aware of this well in advance.
  1. At the end of each stage of the process (including - but not limited to - before sending an item to print or publishing a website etc.) the client will need to ‘sign-off’ their approval either in person or by email.
  1. Costs provided allow for occasional meetings at key stages for a reasonable length of time between the agency and client. Rarely, some events and meetings (e.g. on-location photo shoots) may incur additional charges for time spent, and travel although the client would be made aware of this well in advance and we’d manage the event so that it was cost effective.
  1. Unless otherwise specified, costs quoted exclude the following where relevant: VAT; print; commissioned illustration, photography / imagery; image retouching; image scanning; copywriting; postage, in-house colour print-outs and exceptional travel circumstances; web hosting (it will often be a prerequisite to host on one of our competitively priced servers, particularly if a website incorporates an e-commerce or content management system); couriers; other third-party costs incurred (such as merchant bank and payment gateway charges) etc.
  1. We recommend that clients use our preferred suppliers for print and this enables us to provide competitive quotations and to ensure high quality and service is maintained until delivery of the final product. We always seek a number of quotations from our trusted print suppliers and provide a complete management service: from print-sourcing to print-liaison to proof checking. Although clients are not contract-bound to use Aspire Creative to provide this service, it is highly recommended for quality control and peace of mind. If a client prefers to use their own print supplier, the agency will simply provide artwork directly to the client to manage and forward, and will be unable to monitor, advise or take any responsibility for the process or final output.
  1. In addition to print suppliers, Aspire Creative works closely with sign manufacturers and installers, interior designers and other relevant partners to provide an extensive high-quality service offering beyond immediate in-house capabilities.
  1. Clients should be aware that due to a variety of factors there will often be variance in colours shown between in-house proofs, colours on screen, printer’s proofs, and final printed items. These factors are determined by the source of the print or visual (each output source e.g. the agency printer, the client’s printer, the image setter, the monitor etc. will differ from the other), the types of inks or make-up of colours (even Pantone colours can vary significantly and often surprisingly depending on what stock or substrate they are printed on), the type of print process (short-run digital, longer-run litho printing), the substrate (paper, card, plastic etc.) used, individual preferences (ambient light, personal computer settings etc.) and several other reasons. As a result of this any agency is unable to guarantee 100% consistency and accuracy of colour on all items. In the case of printed items, the only true guide as to what is likely to be produced, is to request a ‘wet-proof’ on the actual intended substrate with the actual inks to be used. However as long as the client accepts there may be inconsistencies across work produced, this step may not be necessary. The agency does not accept any responsibility for colour variations as a result of these indeterminate factors although we fully consult with you to ensure your expectations are managed correctly.
  1. Until payment is received in full, all designs, artwork and rights to design and artwork (whether in digital or printed format) remain the intellectual property of Aspire Creative. Full copyright and ownership of all ‘commissioned’ work will reside with Aspire Creative until full payment has been received, at which point Aspire Creative will surrender to the client, all claims of ownership and full copyright for final work produced. Officially speaking, alternative designs, concepts, options, files, images or documents developed throughout the process remain our intellectual property, but if there are any issues with this, we are happy to discuss as a part of our Open Policy.
  1. Aspire Creative will never knowingly infringe any copyright or trademark and will deliver, to the best of knowledge, creative solutions that are original and unique to the agency.
  1. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, it is the responsibility of the client to ensure that no copyright or trademark has been infringed and to make their own application for copyright or trademark with the ‘UK Intellectual Property Office’ if required.
  1. If requested, Aspire Creative will provide the client with end-artwork in its final form (e.g. print-ready PDF; DVD master; outlined EPS file etc.). However the agency does not by default provide clients with original artwork or HTML code (for example an InDesign file, layered Photoshop file or HTML source file) or any working or development files, rejected concepts and designs, images or documents generated throughout the project. Ownership and copyright of all unused or rejected files, documents and designs will reside with Aspire Creative for non-exclusive future use. In line with our Open Policy, we are however happy to provide these files if you want/need them.
  1. Aspire Creative will not at any time or in any manner, either directly or indirectly, use for our personal benefit or divulge, disclose or communicate in any manner any information that is proprietary to the client. We will act reasonably to protect such information and treat it as strictly confidential. We adhere closely to Data Protection laws and we have our own strict internal policy to enable us to do this.
  1. The client agrees to indemnify Aspire Creative and keep the agency indemnified and hold the agency harmless from and against any claims, actions, proceedings, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses suffered or incurred in relation to work or services provided. The agency is not liable for any loss that may occur before, during or after the development of projects undertaken. The agency will not be held responsible for any delays, errors or losses arising from any third party other than that arising from negligence.
  1. The client agrees to alert the agency in writing to any defects or problems in relation to work and services provided, within 60 days of the final invoice date.
  1. For all web related projects, unless specifically stated, the client will retain 100% ownership of the web page design only (ownership is not applicable to proprietary software and programs or source code, such as databases, e-commerce and/or content management systems, web application source code or flash files/animations). When specifying web related projects we ensure we explain the proprietary rights of third party and Open Source software to you so you can make the right decisions.
  1. These terms and conditions of business supersede any previous versions and apply to all present and future projects unless otherwise agreed in writing. Before engaging with the client we would suggest an official contract, which these terms and conditions reflect but it is not compulsory. By agreeing to these terms, your statutory rights are not affected.

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