These are the trading terms and conditions of A Story Called Ltd.
Please read these terms carefully as these trading terms form part of the legal agreement between A Story Called and the Client.
VAT Number: 153 9850 83
Registration Number: 8393412
Registered Address: 42 Market Street, Edenfield, Bury, Lancashire, England, BL0 0JN
1. Introduction and Definitions
These are the business terms of trade (‘Terms’) of A Story Called Ltd. In these Terms, please note the following definitions:‘A Story Called’, ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ means A Story Called Ltd; ‘Client’, ‘you’ or ‘yours’ means the person, company or firm identified as such in any documentation, to whom services are supplied, or for whom work is undertaken, by us; ‘Content’ means any original written copy (text), image, photograph, print, artwork, video tape, DVD/CD, software, data, file (electronic or hard copy), information or similar provided to A Story Called by the Client as part of services rendered; ‘Service’ means any design service, marketing service, management service or other professional service provided by A Story Called;’ Contract’ means your purchase order for services and our acceptance of it; or your acceptance of a quotation for services; ‘Project Fee’ means the agreed value to be paid for goods and services upon completion of the project. We reserve the right to change these terms at any time without notice.
2. Orders and Payment Terms
All orders for services placed with A Story Called are subject to our acceptance. All prospective project work is consulted & quoted upfront, before any work commences the client must agree to the quote and project terms. The Client must check each of these thoroughly before proceeding with an order. No project shall be commenced without the agreement of both Client and A Story Called.
3. Fees
For each project, the Customer will receive an estimate outlining the project specifications and estimated fees for our time based on our current hourly rate and, where appropriate, any goods and professional services commissioned by us in order to complete the project. We will begin work upon the Customer’s written or oral approval of the estimate and this will constitute an agreement between us. The Customer agrees to pay the Company in accordance with the terms specified in each proposal/estimate. Estimates are valid for only 30 days from the date on the estimate.
Our current hourly rates are;
Directors
Creative Director – £180ph
Client Services Director – £140ph
Commercial Director – £140ph
Digital Account Director – £120ph
Technical Director – £120
Producers
Videographer – £100ph
Photographer – £100ph
Creative Designer – £100ph
Illustrator – £80ph
Animator – £80ph
Artworker – £80ph
Copywriter – £80ph
Developer – £80ph
4. Payment
50% of the project cost is required to be paid upfront, unless otherwise agreed in writing by A Story Called and the Client, before work can begin and all subsequent balances due are payable upon project approval. After this initial project is complete all credit accounts shall be paid up on or before the 30th day after the date of the invoice. A Story Called will remain the copyright owner of all work produced for the Client, and only when payment for the work has been settled in full shall the Client have full licence to use the work commissioned.
4. Overdue/Late Payment
In the event of any payment being outstanding for more than 14 days after becoming due, A Story Called reserves the right to charge interest on the outstanding balance as stated in the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 at a rate of 8% plus the Base Rate of interest as set by The Bank of England for the specified 6 month period in which the late payment falls. A Story Called reserves the right to charge any recoverable statutory compensation for late payment to which we may be entitled, as stated by law.
5. Rates and Quotations
Rates charged to the Client for services will be those stated in the estimate or quotation issued by A Story Called to the Client, or as agreed in writing between A Story Called and the Client. Estimates and quotations are based on the current cost of production and are subject to amendment by us. Quotations are normally valid for 30 days from date of issue, after which A Story Called reserves the right to issue a revised quotation, to reflect any fluctuation in costs of materials and labour.
6. Preliminary Work
Where the Client’s Content requires preliminary work, such as amendment or preparation before the service may be carried out, A Story Called reserves the right to charge for any such work, to cover the cost of additional materials and time supplied. Any experimental preliminary work carried out at the request of the Client, regardless of whether it is followed through to project completion or not, is chargeable.
7. Deadlines and Priority Jobs
A Story Called does not guarantee to complete a project by any particular deadline, unless specifically mentioned in the Project Scope or contract. A Story Called reserves the right to charge a supplementary fee for any ‘priority job’ which requires a deadline to be met at short notice, where other work or projects may have to be rearranged or postponed in order to meet these deadlines imposed by the Client.
8. Cancellation Fees
If a Client wishes to terminate the contract at any stage, a cancellation fee will apply and the Client shall forfeit any previous payments. In such an event, the Client shall hold no legal rights to preliminary work produced.
9. Confidentiality
A Story Called endeavours to treat all Client content confidentially, and shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that such information is disclosed only to employees and contractors of A Story Called requiring access to such information to render the services or manufacture the product required by the Client. Nothing herein shall limit A Story Called Ltd’s right to use or disclose information that: (a) Becomes available to the public without fault of A Story Called; (b) Is lawfully required by A Story Called from a third party; (c) Is in the possession of A Story Called at the time of disclosure by the Client; (d) Is developed by or on behalf of A Story Called by persons who have not received the Client’s confidential information.
10. Delivery of Goods and Services
Services rendered by A Story Called shall normally be delivered to the Client in electronic format. Final designs and files shall normally be issued in a ‘flattened’ format.
Where the Client requests a hard copy, or hard copy proofs, then these, plus any applicable delivery costs, shall be charged to the Client.
11. Submittal of Content
The Client accepts responsibility for the delivery of content or source materials to, and retrieval from, A Story Called. The Client is advised to insure fully his content against all risks including loss or damage or any possible consequential loss, as such cover is not provided by A Story Called. A Story Called shall take all reasonable care in handling, processing and storing the Client’s content. However, in submitting content to A Story Called, they accept they do so entirely at their own risk. A Story Called Ltd’s charges are not proportionate to the value of any such content provided by the Client and therefore A Story Called shall not incur any liability to the Client in event of loss, damage or expense resulting from error, neglect or omission on the part of A Story Called. The Client undertakes to send all content required for the project in a suitable electronic format. The Client must check and approve all content prior to submittal to A Story Called, for error, factual or otherwise, consistency, style, legibility, grammar and spelling. While A Story Called endeavours to check all content for spelling mistakes and typographical errors, A Story Called cannot be held responsible for the content if this does not form a specific outcome of the Project Brief. For projects going to print, A Story Called shall send a final proof of the design to the Client beforehand which the Client must check and approve. After sign-off by the Client, A Story Called shall not be held responsible for any errors in the final print or production. Should the Client not have suitable content prior to the start of the project, A Story Called may propose that the Client upgrade to use one of our copywriting services in order to generate and/or optimise the content for print or web. The Client understands that any such copywriting service is an additional service and shall be charged for separately.
12. Quality of Work
The Client accepts that the quality of any work completed for the Client is significantly dependent upon: (i) the quality of the Client’s source content; and (ii) the degree of co-operation between the Client and A Story Called in reaching a suitable and desired outcome. Therefore while A Story Called endeavours to achieve the highest possible standard of final output for the Client, the output is ultimately subject to the quality of the Client’s content and degree of co-operation with A Story Called with respect to design/management services rendered, and as such A Story Called does not guarantee to produce any particular standard.
13. Copyright and Licence Permissions
Contracts are accepted on the express condition that the Client has obtained the appropriate copyright and licence permissions from the copyright/licence holder to use any content which is sent to A Story Called as part of the services provided to the Client. The Client shall indemnify A Story Called against any loss, damage, costs or expenses suffered or incurred by A Story Called as a result of any claim for infringement of copyright law or defamation in respect of any of the Client’s content. Where copyright licence permissions are procured by A Story Called on behalf of the Client from a third party copyright holder in order to render services for the Client (for example, in the use of stock photography), both A Story Called and the Client shall be bound by the licence permissions terms of the third party, and the copyright will remain with the holder under their terms.
14. Inappropriate Content
The Client shall ensure that any source material or content to be included in a design project with the intention of publishing it to print or web format does not infringe any applicable laws, regulations or third party rights (including material which is obscene, indecent, pornographic, seditious, offensive, defamatory, threatening, liable to incite racial hatred, menacing, blasphemous or in breach of any third party Intellectual Property Rights) (Inappropriate Content). The Client shall indemnify A Story Called against all damages, losses and expenses arising as a result of any action or claim that the Client’s content constitutes Inappropriate Content.
15. Creative and Usage Rights
A Story Called retains certain rights to all of our design work. The Client shall hold the ownership rights to the final design once approved and all payment settled. A Story Called reserve the right to use projects for marketing purposes, unless this permission is refused by the client in writing prior to these terms being accepted.
16. Retention of Title
Title to all work shall remain vested in A Story Called until all debts due to A Story Called by the Client have been discharged in full. The title to all work shall remain vested in A Story Called while any unpaid debts, disputed or otherwise, remain outstanding. In the case of disputed debts, they shall be deemed to be outstanding until extra judicial agreement or the issue of a court judgment to the contrary. Where goods or services have been delivered to the Client, as long as the title remains vested in A Story Called, A Story Called shall have the right to recover any such goods or services at any time. The Client undertakes that it will exercise its best endeavours to cooperate with the exercise of A Story Called said right to reclaim and recover its goods and services.
17. Force Majeure
A Story Called will not be responsible for failure to fulfil its obligations under any contract if such failures are caused by circumstances beyond reasonable control of A Story Called, or any of its suppliers or contractors. Such circumstances include (but are not limited to): acts of God, unavailability of materials, illness or health related issues affecting staff or contractors, equipment failures, strikes, industrial disputes or other labour disturbances.
18. General
If the Client is more than one person, their obligations shall be joint and several.
Any notice from A Story Called shall be in writing and sent to the principal place of business of the Client or party concerned or other such address as notified for the purpose. It shall be the responsibility of the Client to inform A Story Called of any change of address or contact details in a timely manner.
Website & Application Terms
These terms apply to projects completed by A Story Called and include any contracted partners we engage to complete the work.
Design
A Story Called design high-quality user-friendly websites. We do not use pre-made templates or themes unless this is directly requested by the client. Websites are designed in Adobe software and presented for approval in PDF format. Once a design is approved and a website build is initiated any additional design features or adjustments would incur an extra design charge. Your proposal should detail the design requirement, if you are unsure of the design process please consult your account manager.
Development
The developers are all trained specifically to develop in the most time-efficient methods yet keeping the highest quality.
When a project is booked in by Sales, the project is briefed to the developers by either the Project Manager or Director. The developer then agrees to a development schedule and the project begins.
The developers follow particular processes (see WordPress Guidelines) and ensure that the site is built to standards.
Once development is complete the sites are tested internally by our QA department, they will generate amends for the developer to action before it is sent to the client to review.
Client amends will be limited to wording tweaks and snagging only – any functionality adjustments that require additional coding will incur an extra fee.
WordPress Development Guidelines
This document outlines A Story Called’s general WordPress development standards, this acts as the basis for all WordPress themes developed and coded by A Story Called.
If there needs to be specific client guidelines or processes followed during development, please ensure this is listed in the quotation received from A Story Called, if not please speak to your Partnership Manager.
Development Environment
- The site will be built on a white-label domain on servers that A Story Called or our development team control.
- The site will be protected by a .htaccess generated .htpassword – so the site will not be publically accessible for crawled by search engines such as Google.
- No access to the code will be given until the project is signed-off. This includes temporarily disabling WordPress’s default theme editor and Add New Plugins feature.
Coding Guidelines
- A Story Called will use HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery.
- The CSS will be generated using SCSS.
- All SCSS will be modulated and well commented.
- All JS Libraries will be clearly marked in a ‘vendor’ folder.
- CSS and JS will be concatenated and compressed for production.
- We will use Gulp for our development workflow.
- All original SCSS,JS and Gulp files will be packaged up in the build and supplied to the agency on project completion.
- Website ticketing is managed in Bugherd.
WordPress Theme Guidelines
- The theme will be custom coded, we do not use pre-built premium themes (i.e. Themeforest). If you would like us to use your agency theme boilerplate please make your Account Manager aware and ensure it is listed on the quotation.
- We will not modify any WordPress core files or Plugin files.
- Where possible the theme will be built as a Flexible Content page builder, using ACF Pro.
- We will not put any code into WYSIWYG unless definitely needed (which we will explain why).
- We will make all pages and posts editable.
- We will make all global elements editable in ‘Theme Options’
- We will ensure all menus are editable via WordPress Appearance > Menus (unless a custom mega-menu whereas this will be edited in ‘Theme Options’.
- WordPress Comments will be disabled and not including in the build unless we are told to specifically do so, and are provided designs.
- We will code a default 404 page if a design is not supplied.
WordPress Plugins
We include the following plugins in our builds:
- ACF Pro (supplied with our developer license)
- AutoOptimize
- Gravity Forms or Contact Form 7 (if Gravity Forms, supplied with our developer license)
- Wordfence
- WP Fastest Cache
- WP Smush
- Yoast SEO
- Cookie acceptance
If you would like any other plugins included please let your Account Manager know and ensure it is listed on the quotation. Further plugins will also be add-able via the CMS on the release of the build.
Testing (QA) Guidelines
- We will check the website matches the supplied designs, including any supplied mobile designs.
- We will check that any brief, specifications or notes supplied have been implemented and followed.
- We will check the website works in all major browsers: latest editions for Firefox, Chrome, Safari and for IE10+. If you would like further browser support please let your Partnership Manager know and ensure it is listed in your quotation.
- We will check the website works on a selection of devices including tablets and phones. We will test at all sizes from the first responsive breakpoint.
- We will check the website validates in W3C where possible.
- We will check the website has been developed with best practices including image optimisation, compression and concatenation and workable code (so external developers can easily work with the code).
- We will undertake basic optimisation using Yoast.
Handover
- We can/will send the files and MYSQL via a resource such as Dropbox, Google Drive or WeTransfer.
- We can/will launch the website onto a live environment or dev environment, on a domain/server of your choosing. To do this we will require FTP and Control Panel (cPanel, Plesk etc) login details.
- If A Story Called is hosting the website we will make it live upon approval, we will require access to your domain name or supply our server references for your team to direct the domain to our hosting accounts.
Quality Assurance (QA)
All websites we produce are QA’d internally before we send them to the client to review. This ensures that the website/email is delivered to the highest standard possible.
Our QA process includes:
- We will check the website matches the supplied designs, including any supplied mobile designs.
- We will check that any brief, specifications or notes supplied have been implemented and followed.
- We will check the website works in all major browsers: latest editions for Firefox, Chrome, Safari and for IE10+ and EDGE. If you would like further browser support please let your Partnership Manager know and ensure it is listed in your quotation.
- We will check the website works on a selection of devices including tablets and phones. We will test at all sizes from the first responsive breakpoint.
- We will check the website validates in W3C, where possible. If you have specific W3C requirements these must be discussed and agreed prior to quotation approval, otherwise, we will work within what A Story Called deems an appropriate level.
- We will check the website has been developed with best practices including image optimisation, compression and concatenation and workable code (so external developers can easily work with the code).
Website Development Terms & Conditions
1. A Story Called are not liable for issues that arise from changes to third party APIs. For example, Facebook, Stripe, Google Play, Apple, WorldPay, as we cannot control external sources.
2. A Story Called are not liable for issues that arise through updates to browsers such as Chrome or Firefox. Or through mobile operating systems such as iOS or Android.
3. A Story Called are not responsible for any loss of data whilst the project is situated on a third-party hosting platform.
4. A Story Called will take all reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised access to the delivered software and resultant data, but accept no responsibility and are not liable for any hacks to the software, app, website or any other project we have developed.
5. If the client is given access to the website during development A Story Called reserve the right to refuse to fix an issue that we believe has been caused by the client, their staff, or their customers, and upon this also reserve the right to immediately end the bug fixing period.
6. A Story Called reserve the right to cease development if the client, or any other person who is not a developer for A Story Called, has edited, or we believe to have edited, any of the code. The client will be liable to pay for all the development work accrued.
7. A Story Called are not responsible or liable for any GDPR issues which arise through your project. We will offer guidance on privacy issues but you should always ensure you have taken direct legal advice for your business.
10. A Story Called are not responsible for any spam sent from your email accounts, server, app or any other part of the project.
11. Upon receiving images, videos or any other content from the client, A Story Called will not accept any responsibility for copyright issues. Any copyright issues, lawsuits or any other legal action taken against A Story Called for a client’s project will result in the liability being placed on the client for providing copyrighted content.
12. A Story Called reserve the right to refuse to handle any inappropriate content, including, but not exclusive to racism, sexism, pornographic, or any other unlawful or immoral issues.
13. A Story Called are not responsible or liable for any marketing, sales or performance issues.
14. The client will have a dedicated account manager, who will be the client’s single point of contact at all times during the project. The account manager will be the intermediary contact between the client and the A Story Called employees.
15. A Story Called recommends one single point of contact from the client who can sign off changes to reduce confusion and mixed messages.
16. A Story Called may use a client’s project for marketing purposes unless the work is done on a white-label basis, this permission being not unreasonably withheld.
17. A Story Called may place a link and their company name on any websites, apps or development projects, which cannot be removed by the client or any third parties without the consent of A Story Called, this permission not being unreasonably withheld.
18. Within reason, A Story Called reserve the right to cancel a project, or stop a project, without prior warning, the client will be liable for any work accrued up to the point of cancellation. Once payment is received, A Story Called will send over the project files.
19. A Story Called will not accept lesser payments than what is stated on the invoices. A Story Called reserves the right to chase payments and to pursue court proceedings if they believe necessary.
20. A Story Called will not accept abuse or threats in any form. A Story Called’s staff members reserve the right to instantly end any conversation that they are uncomfortable having and may refuse to continue the conversation at any point in the future.
21. A Story Called may store all communication between ourselves and the client for projects.
22. A Story Called reserve the right to pursue court proceedings if we believe the client to have initiated any libellous or slanderous comments against A Story Called, their staff, directors, or their work.
23. A Story Called reserve the right to adjust their resources, including allocated staff, which we believe is necessary for this and all other projects. These adjustments may affect the schedule of delivery but will not affect the quality of work.
24. A Story Called reserve the right to and may digitally sign any of the code we develop, which may include our developers’ names.
25. A Story Called may increase the development time or increase costs due to issues which arise after the commencement of work, such as newly added features. These costs are always quoted prior to any extra work being undertaken.
26. A Story Called are not responsible or liable for any issues with server, hosting company, domain name, DNS or any increased costs from third parties. Our hosting platforms are third party businesses and their individual terms and conditions are available on request.
27. A Story Called will not speak to our client’s customers on their behalf unless a prior agreement was made.
28. A Story Called will develop for the most common and popular operating systems and browsers but will not be responsible for any issues which arise due to browsers older than the previous to current version, unsupported browsers, or browser with any third-party extensions or any manipulated operating systems.
29. A Story Called will not be responsible for any issues which arise through browsers or operating system updates, should any unexpected issues be identified, these will be addressed through the standard support and maintenance arrangements with an appropriate priority.
30. A Story Called undertake basic SEO as part of a website development. A Story Called are not responsible for any search engine optimisation after launch or issues with SEO performance on the website post launch, unless specified in the scope of work or project overview.
31. A Story Called will package the project and deliver the code directly to the client upon full payment or place the site live as indicated in the website process provided.
32. A Story Called may keep access to the client’s server, which includes but is not exclusive to FTP, SSH or any other access to a server or online account unless requested to delete this from our records.
33. A Story Called will only develop the project to match the exact specification stated in the quotation, any subsequently agreed change requests will be carried out in another agreement along with associated costs.
34. If a complaint cannot be resolved informally, it should be submitted in writing to A Story Called. The matter will then be investigated thoroughly by the Director, including arranging a meeting with the Client where necessary.
35. If the hosting environment for the project is not suitable or fit for purpose, the client is responsible for deploying the software on the environment.
36. Once a project is sent to a client for testing, the client will have 2 weeks to feedback otherwise the final payment is due.
37. Although A Story Called have tried to keep this contract language simple, the intentions are serious, and the contract is a legal document under the exclusive jurisdiction of English Law and Courts.
38. Upon signing this document, the client is accepting the terms and costs provided in the associated quotation and invoice.
Hosting information;
Client websites are hosted on shared or VPS platforms at different costs. Your package will be confirmed in your project invoice.
The hosting providers we use to host A Story Called websites are below. The data centres for these businesses are listed on their websites.
UK Dedicated LTD.
3 Centro, Boundary Way, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 7SU
Namesco Limited
Claudio Corbetta, Acton House, Perdiswell Park, Worcester WR3 7GD
WP ENGINE (UK) LIMITED
Collingham House 6-12 Gladstone Road, Wimbledon, London, England, SW19 1QT