DEFINITION OF OUR TERMINOLOGY AS USED WITHIN THIS DOCUMENT:
“Blend Creative Minds” is a trading name of Bootcamp Media Limited.
Company Number: 08078066.
Any reference to “Blend Creative Minds”, “BCM”, “We”, “Us” or “Our” within these Terms refers to Bootcamp Media Limited trading as Blend Creative Minds.
1. A ‘Project’ is any work undertaken or service provided by Blend Creative Minds for the client on their request and as described in our proposal/confirmation order email to that client.
2. You’ or ‘Client,’ is a person, persons, business or organisation using any of the services provided by Blend Creative Minds.
3. ‘We’ or ‘Us’, means Blend Creative Minds.
4. ‘Live’ means the date the website is available on the Client’s chosen domain.
5. ‘Domain’ is the website address as specified by the Client.
6. ‘Open Source Software’ is software made freely available to anyone under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
7. ‘Hosting’ is a yearly cost to keep a Client’s website activated online.
8. ‘Content’ is both text and images that the Client requires on the website.
1. GENERAL
1.1 The contract between Blend Creative Minds and the Client will be on these conditions, to the exclusion of all other terms and conditions. Any variations to these conditions shall have no effect unless agreed in writing.
1.2 Blend Creative Minds reserves the right at any time without notice to remove any Client from its services, web hosts, for breach of Inappropriate Material, or for linking to Inappropriate Material, even before acceptance of the contract.
1.3 The Client is deemed to have accepted and agreed to these Terms and Conditions by notifying Blend Creative Minds of their intention to commence/continue with the services provided by Blend Creative Minds, or by paying or continuing to pay any order, invoice or regular payment.
1.4 The works to be carried out shall be as set out in the Blend Creative Minds proposal/invoice, which can be found attached to the confirmation order email. Any other services/work not included in the proposal/invoice do not form part of the contract. The Client agrees to check the details of the proposal/invoice are correct. Any discrepancies or queries should be brought to the attention of Blend Creative Minds by email before acceptance of the contract.
1.5 Additional work requested by the Client not specified in the proposal/invoice is subject to an additional proposal/invoice. The Client agrees and understands that any additional work may affect the time scale of delivery of the project.
1.6 The proposal/confirmation order email is valid for 30 days from the date of issue. After 30 days We reserve the right to alter or decline to continue with the proposed Project.
1.7 The Client will provide Blend Creative Minds with any reasonably requested information and Content in a timely manner. We will not be held liable for any missed launch date or deadline as a result of You supplying information late or not approving/signing off work at any stage.
1.8 You accept that you will responsibly use and abide by the terms of any third party software or media included within any work done for You.
1.9 You agree that Blend Creative Minds has the right to include any work done for You in its portfolio and write about the project on other websites or media. If you do not authorise Us to do this you are required to notify us in writing in advance of the website going Live.
2. LEGALITIES, COPYRIGHT, AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
2.1 Blend Creative Minds shall expect the Client to carry out sufficient research before proceeding with a website. This will include checking that the website/idea/business will operate legally. It is important that the website is not in any way illegal. The Client agrees that any images or Content supplied by You or used on your website is legally available for You to use or used with full permission of the original author(s). We cannot be held responsible for the illegal use of images, Content or format of material supplied by the Client. Blend Creative Minds reserve the right to remove any website from its servers if it has reason to believe that it is operating illegally, inappropriate, contains a virus or hostile software, constitutes harassment, racism, violence, obscenity or spam, infringes privacy or copyright.
2.2 Where images used on the website have been purchased by Blend Creative Minds on behalf of the Client, these images are restricted by license for use on the website only. Blend Creative Minds is not liable for misuse of these images by the Client or any other person copying, altering or distributing the images to individuals or other organisations.
2.3 Blend Creative Minds cannot be held responsible for anything adversely affecting the Client’s business operation, sales, or profitability that might be claimed is a result of a service offered by Blend Creative Minds.
3. PAYING FOR YOUR PROJECT AND PAYMENT TERMS
3.1 We charge for the design and development of websites at various stages. Before We start work, a 50% deposit of the total sum due is payable (the deposit). When the website design is approved by You and the home page is completed, a further 25% is due (design payment). The final 25% is payable when the website is complete and ready to ‘go-live’ (final payment). Your website will only be switched to ‘Live’ mode when it has been paid for, in full. The initial deposit payment is non-refundable after Blend Creative Minds has committed resources or completed research and/or design work on the Client’s behalf.
3.2 All invoices must be paid within 28 days of the invoice date.
3.3 Once the site is Live any cancellation of your standing order/direct payment during the first 12 months will be deemed a breach of contract. You will be liable for the balance of the contract which is to be paid within 3 days.
3.4 If You request Us to suspend work or delay our work for more than 7 days you shall be required to pay Us for work already carried out and for fees incurred.
3.5 Blend Creative Minds will charge 2% fee for all payments made using a credit or debit card. Our service provider charges this fee due to the costs incurred by Blend Creative Minds for receiving such payments. If this is not acceptable to the Client, We also accept BACS and online bank transfer as alternative payment methods, which will incur no payment fees. If paying by cheque, please understand that We will have to allow the cheque to clear the banking system before starting or continuing with your project.
3.6 Blend Creative Minds own all web designs, images not supplied by You, pages, code and source files created until final payment has been received in full and by prior agreement. Without an agreement, ownership of all designs and code will remain with Us.
LICENCE OF WEBSITE
The Client is granted a limited, revocable, non-transferable licence to use any website, platform, or digital asset created by Blend Creative Minds for the duration of an active agreement and while all payments are up to date.
Ownership of all code, structure, and underlying systems remains with Blend Creative Minds unless explicitly transferred in writing.
Upon termination or non-payment, this licence is revoked immediately and Blend Creative Minds may suspend or remove access.
3.7 Prices are subject to change without notice.
3.8 We reserve the right to not carry out further work on the Project if You have any outstanding invoices.
3.9 We reserve the right to remove our work carried out on your behalf from the internet if any payments are not received. This will be considered a breach of contract if payments remain outstanding.
4. COMMUNICATION
4.1 Email is our primary method of contact with regard to all communication for the design and development of your website. Email is obviously the most efficient and cost-effective form of contact. If You have any problems with the design or development of your website that your developer is unable to resolve by email, You can contact our telephone support service during UK office hours.
4.2 It is the Client’s responsibility to inform us of any change in email address so We always have valid contact details. We cannot be held liable in any way for problems relating to communication issues if We are not supplied with a valid email address.
4.3 It is important for the Client to keep in contact with Blend Creative Minds throughout the entire project. If a Client does not make contact for more than 4 weeks, We will make reasonable attempts to contact the Client by email using the email address for the Client held on file. If We do not receive a response to these attempts of contact within 7 days the Project may be terminated, and the deposit will not be refunded. If the Client wishes to postpone the Project for a period of longer than 2 weeks, please contact us. Otherwise, the Project may be archived. We reserve the right to levy a £50 plus VAT administration fee if the Client returns after an unapproved postponement period and wishes to continue work on their project.
5. WEBSITE DESIGN / DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE – Minimum website maintenance contract length is 3 months, with a 90-day notice period, unless otherwise agreed or specified in writing.
5.1 Design is subjective, and for this reason, We offer a reasonable number of ‘design revisions’. This means that We will work with You on your design concept until You are happy with our proposal but there can be no more than 2 major revisions. The design revision period ends when the Client accepts the design proposal and home page draft. Design changes beyond this point are subject to additional charges.
5.2 NATURE OF COPY – CLIENT agrees to exercise due diligence in its direction to us regarding preparation of materials and must be able to substantiate all claims and representations. You are responsible for all trademark, service mark, copyright and patent infringement clearances. You are also responsible for arranging, prior to publication, any necessary legal clearance of materials We prepare.
5.3 CONTENT – BOOTCAMP MEDIA require within a reasonable time everything requested to complete the Project including all Content but not limited to text, images, videos, logos and artwork before any website design or development work is to commence. Blend Creative Minds will not be responsible for spelling or grammatical errors in the copy provided by the client or its partners.
5.4 LEAD TIMES – Lead times that are given in proposals are estimated under the agreement that BOOTCAMP MEDIA receive all relevant Content prior to the beginning of any project(s) unless We are clearly instructed to produce the required Content before the Project starts. However, the dates and lead times given are for guidance only. Open Source Software (OSS) is publicly available software that may be adapted or modified to suit particular applications. OSS may be used to help develop elements of the functionality of the Client’s website to speed development and add functionality. Where OSS is used, the ownership of the site coding and any customisations made by the developer is still passed to the Client upon final payment.
5.5 We cannot guarantee complete and/or long-term compatibility of the website across all major browsers or platforms or handheld device because of updates/upgrades by their owners nor that the functions contained within your web pages will always be error free.
5.6 We cannot guarantee compatibility of the website in an old browser and platform software.
5.7 WEBSITE MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS – Maintenance contracts are available where the Client requires on-going work on their website project, each Project will be quoted on hours of work required per month and priced accordingly. Any work carried beyond the agreed times per month will be charged at our prevailing hourly rate of £100 per hour plus vat.
5.8 FREE WEBSITE – If you have contracted Blend Creative Minds to provide Search Marketing (SEO) services for your website, you may be offered a FREE website build. The website build will be provided to you at no cost while you remain within the contracted period for our marketing services.
Please note that this free website build offer is conditional upon the website being hosted on Blend Creative Minds's servers and being in contract for maintenance or marketing. If you decide to cancel any of our services before the contracted period ends, a fee equal to the cost of developing the site will be charged.
If you decide to move your website to another provider after the contracted period has ended, you may do so, but you will be required to pay 20% of the original website build cost to Blend Creative Minds.
If you choose to remain with Blend Creative Minds for hosting your website after the contracted period has ended, the website will continue to be provided to you at no cost.
By accepting this FREE website build offer, you agree to these terms and conditions.
6. WEB SITE HOSTING AND EMAIL
6.1 Blend Creative Minds will host the website if the Client requires us to do so and on receipt of full payment of our Hosting fees. In doing so, Blend Creative Minds will provide a reliable and professional service to the Client at all times, excluding unavoidable technical failures. Blend Creative Minds provide different levels of Hosting solutions. Each solution will be offered to meet your projected website visitor numbers. Based on visitor growth Blend Creative Minds may recommend that You upgrade to meet the demand of these visitors in the future, which may incur an additional cost. You will be consulted and your agreement sought before any changes are made to your Hosting platform.
6.2 Blend Creative Minds Hosting is annually renewable. The date of renewal will be 12 calendar months from the date the website was made Live. Blend Creative Minds will contact the Client within 4 weeks before the renewal date and Hosting services are not obligated.
6.3 The Hosting renewal charge must be received within 10 days of the Hosting expiry date. We reserve the right to deactivate any website when the Hosting has expired and the Client has not paid the renewal charge. We reserve the right to charge an administration fee of £50 plus VAT for reactivating the website/Hosting.
6.4 If the Client does not use Blend Creative Minds Hosting services, then the management and hosting of the Domain name are the full responsibility of the Client.
6.5 If the Client does not wish to renew the Hosting, the site files and associated data can be made available to the Client fee free on request and the Domain name can be transferred to the Client’s registrar account. Should the Client instruct us to upload and configure the site and Domain name to a third party server this work will be subject to charge. Blend Creative Minds reserve the right to delete the website from our servers 3 months after the date your Hosting expired if You choose to not renew the Hosting.
6.6 Email Hosting is provided via a third party solution. Blend Creative Minds cannot be held responsible for any downtime outside of our control. This may include, but is not limited to, technical faults, DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, internet downtime, and mail blacklisting.
7. SEO AND ONLINE MARKETING SERVICES – Minimum online marketing contract length is 3 months, with a 90-day notice period, unless otherwise agreed or specified in writing.
7.1 Blend Creative Minds will provide Client with Search Engine Optimisation Services (hereinafter referred to as “SEO”) as described in this contract. Blend Creative Minds will use specific keywords and/or phrases to improve the search engine ranking of the Client’s website.
7.2 The total fees and charges for the SEO services to be provided is quoted in your proposal. All fees and charges must be paid in full prior to the start of a campaign. Blend Creative Minds’s SEO services are intended to serve two main purposes: 1) to provide the Client with increased exposure in search engines, and 2) to drive targeted online traffic to the site. Blend Creative Minds’s SEO Services will include (but are not limited to):
(a) Researching keywords and phrases to select appropriate, relevant search terms.
(b) Obtaining “backlinks” from other related websites and directories in order to generate link popularity and traffic.
(c) Editing and/or optimisation of text for various html tags, meta data, page titles, and page text as necessary (up to agreed number of pages).
(d) Analysis and recommendations on optimal website structure, navigation, code, etc. for best SEO purposes.
(e) Recommend, as required, additional web pages or content for the purpose of “catching” keyword/phrase searches.
(f) Create traffic and ranking reports for your website and any associated pages showing rankings in the major search engines via online tools.
7.3 For the purposes of receiving professional SEO services, Client agrees to provide the following:
(a) Administrative/backend access to the website for analysis of content and structure.
(b) Permission to make changes for the purpose of optimisation, and to communicate directly with any third parties, e.g., your web designer, if necessary.
(c) Unlimited access to existing website traffic statistics for analysis and tracking purposes.
(e) Your Domain email address for the purposes of requesting links (something like contact@yourdomain.co.uk)
(f) Authorisation to use Client pictures, logos, trademarks, web site images, pamphlets, content, etc., for any use as deemed necessary by Blend Creative Minds for search engine optimisation purposes.
(g) If Client’s site is lacking in textual content, Client will provide additional text content in electronic format for the purpose of creating additional or richer web pages. Blend Creative Minds can create site content at an additional cost to the Client. If Client is interested in purchasing content from Blend Creative Minds, please contact Blend Creative Minds for a cost estimate.
7.4 Client must acknowledge the following with respect to SEO services:
(a) All fees and charges are non-refundable.
(b) All fees, services, documents, recommendations, and reports are confidential.
(c) Blend Creative Minds has no control over the policies of search engines with respect to the type of sites and/or content that they accept now or in the future. The Client’s website may be excluded from any directory or search engine at any time at the sole discretion of the search engine or directory.
(d) Due to the competitiveness of some keywords/phrases, ongoing changes in search engine ranking algorithms, and other competitive factors, Blend Creative Minds does not guarantee #1 positions or consistent top 10 positions for any particular keyword, phrase, or search term.
(e) Google has been known to hinder the rankings of new websites (or pages) until they have proven their viability to exist for more than “x” amount of time. This is referred to as the “Google Sandbox.” Blend Creative Minds assumes no liability for ranking/traffic/indexing issues related to Google Sandbox penalties.
(f) Occasionally, search engines will drop listings for no apparent or predictable reason. Often, the listing will reappear without any additional SEO. Should a listing be dropped during the SEO campaign and does not reappear within 30 days of campaign completion, Blend Creative Minds will re-optimise the website/page based on the current policies of the search engine in question.
(g) Some search directories offer expedited listing services for a fee. If the Client wishes to engage in said expedited listing services (e.g., paid directories), the Client is responsible for all paid for inclusion or expedited service fees. Blend Creative Minds can offer a list of expedited listing services upon request.
(h) Linking to “bad neighbourhoods” or getting links from “link farms” can seriously damage all SEO efforts. Blend Creative Minds does not assume liability for the Client’s choice to link to or obtain a link from any particular website without prior consultation.
(i) Blend Creative Minds is not responsible for changes made to the website by other parties that adversely affect the search engine rankings of the Client’s website.
(j) Additional Services not listed herein (such as managing pay-per click campaigns, copywriting, link baiting, etc.) will be provided for a fee and quoted for.
(k) The Client guarantees any elements of text, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks, or other artwork provided to Blend Creative Minds for inclusion on the website above are owned by the Client, or that the Client has received permission from the rightful owner(s) to use each of the elements, and will hold harmless, protect, and defend Blend Creative Minds and its subcontractors from any liability or suit arising from the use of such elements.
(l) Blend Creative Minds is not responsible for the Client overwriting SEO work to the Client’s site. (e.g. Client/webmaster uploading over work already provided/optimised). The Client will be charged an additional fee for re-constructing content, based on the hourly rate of £75 per hour. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, Blend Creative Minds’s obligation to provide free SEO services shall cease in the event the Client’s conduct overwrites the SEO services provided. For example, if the Client’s Webmaster uploads content without consulting Blend Creative Minds, then Blend Creative Minds’s obligation to provide SEO services for free shall terminate.
8. Restriction on Third-Party Sharing
The client agrees not to share, distribute, or transmit any reports, documents, or information provided by Blend Creative Minds to any third-party without the prior written consent of Blend Creative Minds. This includes, but is not limited to, any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution, or publication. The client further agrees to take all necessary steps to prevent any unauthorised use or disclosure thereof. In the event that the client wishes to share the provided reports with a third-party, a written request must be submitted to Blend Creative Minds, and approval must be granted in writing before any sharing can occur. Any unauthorised sharing of reports is a breach of these Terms and Conditions and may result in immediate termination of services and/or legal action.
9 DOMAIN OWNERSHIP AND USE
9.1 Any Domain name registered or managed by Blend Creative Minds shall remain the property of Blend Creative Minds unless expressly transferred in writing.
9.2 The Client is granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the Domain for the duration of an active service agreement and while all payments are up to date.
9.3 In the event of non-payment, breach of contract, or termination of services, Blend Creative Minds reserves the right to suspend, redirect, or retain the Domain without notice.
9.4 Transfer of the Domain to the Client or any third party will only take place upon:
* Full settlement of all outstanding balances
* Payment of any applicable transfer or release fees
* Written agreement from Blend Creative Minds
9.5 Blend Creative Minds reserves the right to refuse transfer of the Domain where there are outstanding disputes, unpaid invoices, or breach of these Terms.
9.6 If the Client wishes to transfer the Domain, website, or associated digital assets away from Blend Creative Minds following termination of services, a minimum of 12 months written notice must be provided.
Any transfer or release of the website, Domain, SEO structure, hosting configuration, content framework, digital assets, or associated infrastructure will be subject to a commercial release fee equivalent to no less than 12 months of the prevailing monthly retainer at the time notice is given, in addition to any outstanding balances.
This release fee reflects the intellectual property, SEO value, historical optimisation, infrastructure, media production, goodwill, and transfer administration associated with the Project.
10. LIABILITY – Blend Creative Minds excludes itself, its employees and/or agents from all and any liability as a result of:
10.1 Loss or damage caused by any inaccuracy
10.2 Loss or damage caused by delay or error in the production of the website
10.3 Loss or damage caused by omission
10.4 Loss or damage caused to your artwork and/or images.
This agreement shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales, which shall claim venue and jurisdiction for any legal motion or claim arising from this agreement.
Where one or more terms of this contract are held to be void or unenforceable for whatever reason any other terms of the contract not so held will remain valid and enforceable at law.
We reserve the right to terminate a Project with You at any time without prior notification if you breach these terms and conditions.
Blend Creative Minds reserves the right to alter these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice. The latest Terms and Conditions can be found at Blend Creative Minds’s website at Terms and Conditions.
11. SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT SERVICES
11.1 Clients who have engaged Blend Creative Minds for software maintenance or support services are required to give a minimum of 12 months’ notice before terminating or downgrading such services. Termination before the completion of this 12-month notice period will result in the client being liable for the remaining balance of the contract term. This clause applies to all software maintenance or support agreements unless otherwise specified in writing.
