Last updated: 19 October 2026
Background
These terms of business (“Terms”) apply to every survey, assessment, report, and consultancy service (“Services”) that Growth Consultant Services Ltd, trading as Subito (“we”, “us”, or “our”), provides to you (“you” or “the Client”). Use of our website is covered separately by our Terms of Service.
If anything in a quotation we send you conflicts with these Terms, the quotation takes priority for that job.
1. Information about us
- Company name: Growth Consultant Services Ltd, trading as Subito
- Company number: 10186853
- Registered address: 22 Broad Street, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4AH
- VAT number: GB 407 3975 80
- Email: [email protected]
- Telephone: 01353 515973
2. How we deliver our Services
We coordinate every job and are responsible to you for it. Site visits and survey work are carried out by suitably qualified and insured freelance associate surveyors, arboriculturists, and ecologists who work on our behalf. We review their findings and issue the final report.
Your contract is with us, not with the individual associate. Please do not instruct or pay an associate directly for work that falls within the scope we have quoted.
We may change the associate assigned to your job at any time, for example to meet your timescale or because of availability.
Introduction fee (business clients only). Our associates are introduced to you through us. If, during a job or within 12 months after it is completed, you engage an associate who worked on that job, other than through us, to provide arboricultural, ecological, or related consultancy services, you will pay us an introduction fee. The fee is the greater of £500 and 20% of the fees you pay that associate in the first 12 months of the direct engagement. You must tell us within 14 days of engaging the associate and give us a reasonable record of the fees paid. This does not apply to an associate you had already worked with directly before we introduced them to you, or to consumers.
3. Quotations
3.1 A quotation sets out the scope of work, the price, any assumptions we have made, an indicative timescale, and how long the quotation remains valid.
3.2 Quotations are based on the information you give us, such as the site address, site boundary, plans, the number of trees or habitats, and site conditions. If that information turns out to be incomplete or inaccurate, or the scope changes, we will tell you before doing any extra work and issue a revised quotation.
3.3 Only our team can change the scope or price of a quotation. Any change is confirmed in writing.
3.4 Prices are shown excluding VAT unless stated otherwise. VAT is added at the current rate.
4. Instructing us
4.1 A contract is formed when you accept our quotation in writing (for example by email) and we confirm the booking. By instructing us, you agree to these Terms.
4.2 If you instruct us on behalf of someone else, such as a landowner, developer, or end client, you confirm that you have their authority. You and the person you act for are jointly and severally responsible for paying our fees, unless we agree in writing to invoice only the other party.
4.3 Where more than one person instructs us on the same job, each of you is jointly and severally liable for our fees.
5. Your right to cancel (consumers only)
5.1 If you are a consumer (an individual acting outside your trade or business) and the contract was made at a distance or away from our premises, you have the right to cancel within 14 days of the contract being formed, without giving a reason.
5.2 If you ask us to start work within that 14-day period, you must pay for any work done up to the point you tell us you are cancelling. If the Services have been fully completed within that period at your request, you will lose the right to cancel.
5.3 To cancel, email [email protected] with your name, the site address, and a clear statement that you wish to cancel.
6. Cancelling or postponing a booking
6.1 Business clients, and consumers after the 14-day cancellation period, may cancel or postpone a booking by telling us in writing.
6.2 If you cancel, we may charge a cancellation fee of £250 plus VAT or 50% of the quoted fee, whichever is greater, plus any third-party costs we have already incurred.
6.3 If you cancel after a site visit has taken place, you will pay the cancellation fee or the value of the work carried out up to the date of cancellation, whichever is greater, plus any costs we have already committed to on your behalf.
7. Fees, expenses, and third-party costs
7.1 Our fees are as stated in the quotation. Unless the quotation says otherwise, it includes the associate’s travel to and from the site.
7.2 We will tell you in advance about any third-party costs that are needed for the job, such as data searches, records centre fees, laboratory analysis (for example eDNA samples), specialist access equipment, or traffic management. These costs are charged to you at cost plus a handling charge of £50 plus VAT, and remain payable if the job is cancelled after we have incurred them.
7.3 Additional work outside the quoted scope, such as extra site visits, meetings, responding to further information requests from the planning authority beyond minor clarifications, or revising a report after the scheme changes, will be quoted separately.
8. Invoicing and payment
8.1 Unless the quotation says otherwise:
- Payment in full is due when you instruct us.
- Where we agree to invoice you instead, payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date.
- We do not accept payment in instalments unless we agree this in writing when you instruct us.
8.2 You can pay by bank transfer or card. Payment details are on each invoice.
8.3 We may hold back the final report until our invoice has been paid in full.
8.4 If a business client pays late, we may charge interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, currently 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate, together with reasonable costs of recovering the debt. For consumers, we may charge interest at 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate on overdue amounts.
8.5 If an invoice remains unpaid, we may suspend any work in progress for you until it is paid.
8.6 Our Services are professional consultancy services and do not fall within the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), so no CIS deductions should be made from our invoices.
9. Your responsibilities
9.1 Site access. You must arrange safe and lawful access to the whole of the site, including any neighbouring land we need to view, at the agreed time. Please give us at least one working day’s notice of any change.
9.2 Health and safety. You must tell us about any known hazards on site before the visit, such as unsafe structures, livestock, deep water, contamination, or restricted areas. Our associates may decline to enter areas they judge unsafe, and we will record this in the report.
9.3 Information. You must give us accurate information, including the site boundary and, where available, a topographical survey and the proposed layout in a usable format (for example DWG or geo-referenced PDF). Where no topographical survey is provided, tree positions will be plotted from GPS and mapping data and will be approximate.
9.4 If a visit cannot take place, or is wasted, because access was not available or the information supplied was wrong, we may charge for the abortive visit and for rebooking.
10. Timescales and seasonal constraints
10.1 Timescales in a quotation are our best estimate and are not guaranteed unless we agree a fixed deadline in writing. We will keep you informed of any likely delay.
10.2 Some surveys can only be carried out at certain times of year or in certain weather conditions, for example bat activity surveys, breeding bird surveys, great crested newt surveys, and botanical surveys. Trees in leaf and out of leaf may also show different features. We will tell you about any seasonal constraints we know of before you instruct us.
10.3 If weather or site conditions on the day prevent a valid survey, we will rebook at the earliest suitable opportunity. This is not a breach of these Terms.
10.4 If a further survey is needed in a different season, or because the planning authority asks for one, this is a separate piece of work and will be quoted separately.
11. Our reports
11.1 Our reports reflect the condition of the site and its trees, habitats, and species at the time of the survey. Trees and habitats change over time. Planning authorities typically treat survey data as current for a limited period, often 12 to 24 months for tree surveys and less for some protected species surveys. We are not responsible for a report being treated as out of date by a third party after that time.
11.2 Tree surveys are carried out from ground level by visual inspection unless the quotation states otherwise. We do not climb trees, carry out decay detection, or excavate roots unless this is specifically included.
11.3 Reports are delivered electronically as PDF, with any plans in the formats stated in the quotation. Paper copies are only provided if stated in the quotation.
11.4 We rely on information supplied by you and by third parties (such as mapping, records centres, and planning documents) and do not independently verify it unless we say so.
12. Copyright and use of reports
12.1 We own the copyright in all reports, plans, and other material we produce. Once our fees have been paid in full, you have a non-exclusive licence to use the report for the purpose stated in the quotation, including submitting it to the local planning authority and sharing it with your professional team.
12.2 Reports are prepared for you and for the stated purpose only. No other person may rely on them without our written consent. This includes future owners of the site, lenders, and purchasers. We may agree to extend reliance to a named third party for an additional fee.
12.3 If a report is altered by anyone other than us, we accept no responsibility for the altered content.
13. Planning outcomes
We give independent professional advice based on our survey findings and the relevant standards, such as BS 5837:2012 and recognised ecological survey guidelines. The decision on any planning application, condition, or tree works application rests with the local planning authority. We cannot guarantee that an application will be approved or that a condition will be discharged.
14. Limitation of liability
14.1 We hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance appropriate to our Services. Details of our cover are available on request.
14.2 Our total liability to you in connection with any job, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, is limited to five times the fees paid for that job, up to a maximum of £50,000.
14.3 We are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, business, opportunity, or anticipated savings, including losses caused by planning delays or refusals.
14.4 You agree not to bring any claim personally against our employees or associates in connection with the Services. This does not affect our own liability to you under these Terms.
14.5 Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded. If you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights.
15. Events outside our control
We are not responsible for delay or failure to perform caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as severe weather, flooding, illness, restricted site access caused by third parties, or animal disease controls. We will tell you as soon as possible and agree a new timescale with you.
16. Complaints
If you are unhappy with any part of our Services, please email [email protected] with details. We aim to resolve complaints promptly. Where a report contains a factual error, we will correct it free of charge.
17. Data protection
We use your personal data to deliver the Services, as set out in our Privacy Policy. We share the job details an associate needs to carry out the work, such as the site address and site contact details, and associates must keep this information confidential.
18. General
18.1 These Terms and the quotation are the entire agreement between us for the job and replace any earlier discussions.
18.2 We may update these Terms from time to time. The version in force when you instruct us applies to that job.
18.3 No one other than you and us has any right to enforce these Terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
18.4 If any part of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
18.5 These Terms are written in English, and English is the language of the contract.
18.6 These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction. If you are a consumer living in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.
19. Contact us
If you have any questions about these Terms, contact us at [email protected] or call 01353 515973.