Candidate Policy

• We work in a non-discriminatory way, regardless of gender, sexuality, race, religious belief, age or disability.
• We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds.
• We do not operate a blacklist of any kind.

• We never charge you for registering with us or for representing you. Our fee is paid only by the client.
• You will never be asked to make any payment to a yacht or client to secure a job.

• The information in your CV must be correct to the best of your knowledge.
• The qualifications and references you upload must be your own, and must not be falsified or edited in any way.
• When you register, you must tick the box to confirm you have read and agree to this policy. If you don’t, we won’t be able to register or represent you.
• Please bring your original documents to your registration interview, if you have one, and take them on board when you join a yacht for the client’s records and inspections.
• If we place you, please send us a copy of your signed contract. If your yacht’s policy doesn’t allow this, an email confirming that you have received, signed and kept a copy of your contract and are happy with it is enough.

Under the MLC, you are entitled to the following from every MLC-compliant client:

• a contract in English covering your employment terms, wages, hours of rest, leave, repatriation, compensation if the vessel is lost or founders, manning levels, career and skills development, and employment opportunities
• your contract by email before you join, so you can get independent advice if you wish
• the chance to read your contract before signing it, and a copy once signed

Your key rights include, but are not limited to:

• at least 10 hours of rest in any 24 hours, and 77 hours in any 7 days
• 2.5 days of paid leave for each month of employment
• repatriation to your home country
• suitable accommodation and recreational facilities

You can find a full breakdown of your rights on GOV.UK.

We aim to give our crew the best possible service, but if something goes wrong we want to put it right.

• Email tim@quaygroup.com with “Complaint” in the subject line.
• We’ll acknowledge your complaint, investigate it with our directors, and reply with what we think is a fair solution within 4 weeks.
• If you feel your complaint hasn’t been resolved, you can take it to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) at mlc@mcga.gov.uk.

Complaints about how we use your personal data are covered in Section 6.

Who we are. Quay Crew Ltd (company 08423846, ICO registration ZB400699) and Quay Group International Ltd (company 17041721, ICO registration ZC192412), trading as Quay Group and Quay Crew, 39 The Metro Centre, Tolpits Lane, Watford, WD18 9SB, are joint controllers of your data, which means we decide together how and why it is used. Contact: Tim Clarke, tim@quaygroup.com.

How the two companies share responsibility. The two companies have a written arrangement setting out who does what. Both use the same systems and follow this policy. Quay Group International Ltd deals with questions, complaints and requests to use your rights, and with any data breach, for both companies. You can contact either company, or use your rights against either of them, through tim@quaygroup.com.

What we collect. Your contact details, CV and work history, job preferences (role, location and salary), qualifications and certificates, passport and visa details, date of birth, nationality, photo, references, and notes and recordings of our calls with you. Most of it comes from you when you register. Some comes from your referees, job boards where you’ve posted your CV, and public sources such as professional profiles or news.

Why we use it. To find you work, put you forward for roles you’ve agreed to, check you have the right to work and the qualifications a role needs, and arrange your contract and paperwork once you’re placed. We do this because it’s in your interests and ours (legitimate interests), and to meet our legal duties as a recruitment agency. You don’t have to give us your details, but we can’t find you work without them.

Health and criminal record checks. Most yachting roles need a valid seafarer medical certificate (such as an ENG1), so we record whether you hold one and when it expires, as maritime and employment law require. Some roles need a criminal record check. We only arrange one with your agreement, and we keep only the outcome.

Calls and AI. We may record calls with you and your referees so we have an accurate note, and we’ll always tell you first. We use secure transcription and AI tools to write up calls, CVs and profiles. A person always checks the work, and no decision about you is made by software alone.

Who we share it with. Clients we put you forward to (only for roles you’ve agreed to, through a private link that expires after 30 days), and trusted providers who run our systems, such as cloud hosting, email and AI services. Providers may only use your data on our instructions and may not use it to train AI. Once you’re placed, we give the client what’s needed for the placement to go ahead. If you’d rather we didn’t share your photo, just tell us.

Outside the UK. Your data is stored in the UK. Many of our clients are outside the UK, and some of our providers process data in other countries, including the United States, using the safeguards UK law requires (such as the UK-US Data Bridge or approved contracts).

How long we keep it. Your profile, CV, documents and notes for 2 years after we were last in touch (any contact restarts this). Placement records for 6 years. Call recordings for up to 12 months. Our UK backups for up to 12 months, so anything we delete drops out of them within a year.

Referees. If you give us a reference, we keep your name, contact details and what you tell us with the candidate’s file, for as long as we keep that file.

Job alerts and news. We’ll keep you informed of suitable roles and our services. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

Your rights. You can ask for a copy of your data, or ask us to correct, delete, move or limit it, object to how we use it, or stop us sharing it with clients. We reply within one month (or up to three months for complex requests, and we’ll tell you if so).

Questions or complaints. Email tim@quaygroup.com and we’ll acknowledge it within 30 days. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, on 0303 123 1113, or by post to Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Our full Privacy & Cookies Policy has more detail.

Tim Clarke, Quay Crew, 39 The Metro Centre, Tolpits Lane, Watford, WD18 9SB · tim@quaygroup.com