At Hugglets, our community has always been built on trust – between collectors, artists, bear makers and dealers, and between all of you and us. Looking after your personal information is part of that trust. This notice explains, as clearly as we can, what information we collect, why we collect it, how we look after it and what rights you have.
Last updated: 26 September 2026
1. Who we are
Hugglets is a trading name of WMM Publishing Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 10699395), with its registered office at 51 Holland Street, London W8 7JB, United Kingdom.
WMM Publishing Ltd is the controller of your personal information. This means we decide how and why it is used, and we are responsible for looking after it in line with UK data protection law, in particular the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
If you have any questions about this notice or about your personal information, please contact us:
- E-mail: contact@hugglets.co.uk
- Post: WMM Publishing Ltd, 51 Holland Street, London W8 7JB, United Kingdom
[ICO registration number: 00015225278]
2. Who this notice applies to
This notice applies to everyone whose personal information we handle, including:
- visitors to our website hugglets.com
- visitors to our Festivals, the Hugglets Winter BearFest (including BLYTHE & friends) and the Hugglets TEDDIES Festival
- members of the Hugglets Club
- exhibitors and those who apply to exhibit
- advertisers and readers of the Hugglets Teddy Bear Guide
- newsletter subscribers
- anyone who contacts us by email, telephone, post or social media
3. What information we collect and why
We only collect the information we genuinely need. Under data protection law, we must also have a lawful basis for each use. These are shown below for each group.
Hugglets Club members
What we collect: your name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number (if provided), Facebook profile (if provided), the name of the partner who accompanies you to our festivals (if provided), your membership year, purchases and payment details.
Why: to manage your membership, provide your festival entry and early entry, send you your copy of the Hugglets Teddy Bear Guide, arrange your TEDDYBÄR TOTAL ticket, run the Club raffle at our festivals and keep you informed about your membership.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract (your membership).
Festival visitors and ticket buyers
What we collect: your name, email address, postal address (if provided), purchases and payment details. Tickets are sold through Eventbrite, which also processes your information under its own privacy notice.
Why: to issue and check your tickets, send you practical information about the festival and contact you if anything changes, for example a change of time or venue.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract (your ticket).
Exhibitors
What we collect: your name, business or studio name, postal address, email address, telephone number, photos you provided, website and social media handles, a description and images of your work, your stand requirements, purchases, invoicing and payment details, and your insurance details.
Why: to process your application, allocate your stand, invoice you, organise the festival safely with the venue, and promote you and your work on our website, in the exhibitor list, on social media and in our newsletter.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract (your stand booking); compliance with legal obligations (for example accounting and health and safety requirements); and our legitimate interests in promoting the festival and its exhibitors. If you would prefer us not to feature you in our promotion, simply let us know.
Advertisers in the Hugglets Teddy Bear Guide
What we collect: the name and contact details of the person responsible for the booking, business details, photos you provided, website and social media handles, purchases, invoicing and payment details, and the advertisement content you supply.
Why: to process your booking, publish your advertisement, invoice you and contact you about future editions.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract; and our legitimate interests in contacting existing advertisers about future editions.
Newsletter subscribers
What we collect: your e-mail address, your name (if provided) and basic information about whether you open our e-mails and which links you click.
Why: to send you news about our Festivals, exhibitors, the Hugglets Club and the Hugglets Teddy Bear Guide, and to understand which content is most interesting to our readers.
Lawful basis: your consent. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every newsletter or by contacting us. Our newsletters are sent through YMLP.
Website visitors
What we collect: technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit. More details are set out in section 5.
Why: to run our website securely and improve it.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in operating a secure and useful website; and, where required, your consent to cookies.
People who contact us
What we collect: your name, contact details and the content of your message.
Why: to respond to your enquiry.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in answering enquiries; or, where your enquiry relates to a booking or membership, performance of a contract.
4. Photography, filming and live streaming at our Festivals
We love sharing the atmosphere of our Festivals with bear lovers who cannot be there in person. At our festivals, our team takes photographs, films footage for our Festival review film and sometimes streams live on social media. Clearly visible signs at the entrance let visitors know when filming is taking place.
What we record: images and video of the festival, which may include visitors, exhibitors and their stands. We may also record short interviews with people who have agreed to take part.
How we use it: on hugglets.com, on our social media channels (including Instagram, Facebook and YouTube), in live streams, in our newsletter and in the Hugglets Teddy Bear Guide, to share and promote Hugglets Festivals.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in documenting and promoting our Festivals. For interviews and close-up features of individuals, we ask for your agreement first.
Your choices:
- If you do not wish to be filmed or photographed, simply let our camera team know on the day, and we will keep you out of shot.
- We do not feature children in an identifiable way without the consent of a parent or guardian.
- If you find yourself in a photograph or film and would like it removed, please contact us. We will remove it from our own website and channels as quickly as we reasonably can. Please note that we cannot recall material from live streams that has already been viewed or shared by others.
5. Cookies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Some are strictly necessary for the website to work. Where the law requires your consent, we will only use these cookies if you agree, and you can change your choice at any time.
6. Who we share your information with
We never sell your personal information. We only share it where necessary, and only with:
- Service providers who help us run Hugglets, such as our website host UK2, payment provider PayPal, ticketing provider Eventbrite, email provider and cloud service Google, newsletter provider YMLP, letter shop AdMail and postal and delivery services for the Hugglets Teddy Bear Guide. They may only use your information on our instructions.
- Our venues, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham and Kensington Town Hall in London, where needed for the safe planning and running of our festivals. This includes exhibitor lists, which our venues require. Please note that the NEC may also use exhibitor contact details to market its own products and services; when it does so, the NEC acts as an independent controller under its own privacy notice.
- The organiser of TEDDYBÄR TOTAL Wellhausen & Marquardt Medien, where needed to provide Club members with their ticket.
- Insurers and professional advisers, such as our accountants and lawyers, where necessary.
- Public authorities, where we are required to do so by law.
Information you choose to share publicly, for example as an exhibitor featured in our exhibitor list or on social media, will be visible to everyone.
7. International transfers
Some of our service providers may store or process information outside the United Kingdom, for example in the European Union or the United States. Where this happens, we make sure your information is protected, for example by relying on UK adequacy regulations or by using the International Data Transfer Agreement or approved contractual clauses.
8. How long we keep your information
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it:
- Club membership records: for the duration of your membership and six years afterwards, so that we can welcome you back easily.
- Ticket, booking and payment records: six years after the end of the relevant financial year, as required for tax and accounting purposes.
- Exhibitor and advertiser contact details: for as long as we have an ongoing relationship, and up to six years after your last festival or advertisement, so that we can invite you to future editions.
- Newsletter subscriptions: until you unsubscribe.
- Enquiries: up to four years after we have dealt with your enquiry.
- Festival photographs and films: published material may remain online as part of our festival archive, unless you ask us to remove it. Unused raw footage is deleted after 24 months.
9. How we keep your information safe
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. Access is limited to those who need it to run Hugglets, and our service providers are bound to protect your information.
10. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
- access the personal information we hold about you
- correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete
- erase your information in certain circumstances
- restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances
- object to our use of your information where we rely on legitimate interests, and at any time to direct marketing
- data portability, meaning you can receive certain information in a commonly used format
- withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@hugglets.co.uk. There is normally no charge. We will respond within one month, although this may be extended in certain circumstances, in which case we will let you know.
11. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first, so that we can put things right. You can contact us by email, by post or through any other channel you prefer. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, look into it without undue delay and let you know the outcome.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator:
- Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- Telephone: 0303 123 1113
- Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
If you live in the European Union, you may also contact the data protection authority in your country.
12. Changes to this notice
We may update this notice from time to time, for example when we introduce new services. The latest version will always be available on this page, and we will let you know about any significant changes.
WMM Publishing Ltd, trading as Hugglets · 51 Holland Street, London W8 7JB · Company number 10699395