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AskSterlingUnited Kingdom

Ask Sterling privacy notice

Last updated 2 October 2026

Who we are

Ask Sterling is a trading name of OPTIMAX AI LTD, registered in England & Wales (No. 16143914), 38 Sunnymede Avenue, Epsom KT19 9TJ, United Kingdom. We are the controller for the details you give us here. Contact: mike@optimax-ai.com. Sterling is our guide character, not a real person and not a lender.

What we collect

  • Your answers about the business (amount, purpose, industry, time trading, turnover, CCJs, company number, existing finance, ownership).
  • Your name, business name, email and mobile number, and anything you add after sending (best time to call, what the money is for, how soon).
  • If you type your email on the last step but don't send, we keep that email and your answers for up to 30 days. If you had ticked the consent box, we may send you one email with a link to finish; we never pass it to anyone.
  • The result of checking your phone number (whether it is a working mobile or landline) and your email address (whether it accepts mail), so the specialist can reach you.
  • What Companies House publishes about the company: its status, incorporation date and current directors, to confirm you are a director.
  • A record of the consent you gave: the exact wording, its version, the time, your IP address and browser.
  • Cookies for advertising measurement and form analytics, only if you accept them in the cookie banner.

What we do with it

  • If your answers fit our funding partner's criteria and you send them, we pass your enquiry to one partner only: Abbey Road Capital Ltd / SOJA Ventures (Co. No. 16907324). They contact you about this enquiry. Ask Sterling may also text you to confirm the enquiry and help arrange the call; reply STOP to end that. We receive a fixed fee from them for each introduction. Lawful basis: you asked us to (UK GDPR Art 6(1)(b)), and our legitimate interest in handling the enquiry (Art 6(1)(f)).
  • If they don't fit, your details stay with Ask Sterling. With your consent we may contact you about other business funding options, and we ask you before passing your details to anyone. Lawful basis: your consent (Art 6(1)(a)); withdraw it any time.
  • We never sell your details.

Who processes it for us

Hosting (Vercel), our database (Supabase), email delivery and our enquiry log (Google), internal alerts (Slack), texts and phone-number checks (Twilio), email checks (MillionVerifier), Companies House (public register), and — only with your cookie consent — Meta, Reddit and PostHog. Some of these providers are outside the UK; transfers rely on the UK's adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses.

How long we keep it

Twelve months from your enquiry, then we delete it. An email you typed but didn't send: 30 days. Consent records may be kept longer where the law requires us to prove consent.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete your data, object, restrict processing, or withdraw consent, by emailing mike@optimax-ai.com. You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

AskSterling

Ask Sterling is a trading name of OPTIMAX AI LTD, registered in England & Wales No. 16143914, 38 Sunnymede Avenue, Epsom KT19 9TJ. Sterling is our guide character. Ask Sterling is an introducer, not a lender or broker. We introduce UK limited companies to Abbey Road Capital Ltd / SOJA Ventures and receive a fee for each introduction. Business finance for limited companies is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Finance is for business purposes only, subject to status and the lender's checks; a personal guarantee may be required. Merchant cash advances are not loans and are not FCA-regulated. We do not introduce facilities repayable in full within 90 days.

Privacy · Ads and how we're paid · · mike@optimax-ai.com