Terms of Trade

1. About LOVEGATE

Lovegate Marketing Limited (LOVEGATE, we, us) is registered in England and Wales, company number 09467007. Registered office: Ground Floor, Centenary House, Peninsula Park, Rydon Lane, Exeter EX2 7XE, United Kingdom. Trading address: Winslade House, Manor Drive, Clyst St Mary, Exeter, Devon EX5 1FY, United Kingdom. VAT number: GB 231 3951 28. EORI number: GB231395128000.

We source, buy and sell branded fast-moving consumer goods, primarily on our own account, in the UK and internationally. Agreed categories may include coffee, confectionery, pet food, household cleaning products and other food and beverages. Private-label or white-label development is subject to the agreed specification and order. We also provide agreed commercial advisory and management services under section 19.

Alcohol-specific provisions apply only where a proposed transaction actually involves alcohol. These terms do not represent that LOVEGATE holds an AWRS or excise authorisation. Any approval required for the activity must be established before proceeding.

2. Application of these terms

These terms apply to sales to businesses, not consumers, unless we agree otherwise in writing. They apply instead of terms included with your order or purchase order unless LOVEGATE expressly agrees otherwise in writing. Variations require written agreement by our Managing Director or a person expressly authorised by the Managing Director in writing.

Account information and due-diligence evidence are currently requested and reviewed manually. Providing that information does not itself create an account, grant credit or constitute an accepted order. The version supplied or made available when we accept your order applies to that order. Later website changes do not retrospectively change accepted orders.

3. Orders

Place orders with our sales team at info@lovegatemarketing.com or +44 (0)330 043 8599. An order is accepted only when we confirm acceptance in writing. Price lists, range information and quotations are not offers. We confirm availability, products, pack formats and any minimum order quantity or value for the particular order.

After acceptance, changes or cancellations require our written agreement. Any cancellation or change charge must be agreed in writing; these terms do not introduce a standard unquoted fee.

4. Pricing

The price is the price we confirm for that order. Prices are normally in pounds sterling; euros or US dollars may be agreed. Prices exclude VAT. The quotation or order confirmation must identify whether excise duty is included or the goods are supplied under duty suspension.

Quotations are valid for their stated period. Before acceptance, prices may change with supplier costs, availability, exchange rates, duty or market conditions. After acceptance, changes require an agreed order provision, including expressly covered tax or duty changes, or further written agreement.

5. Payment

Payment terms are agreed for each account and confirmed in writing. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the first order is pro forma. If credit terms have not been approved, we may require payment before release or dispatch.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, pay in full in the invoice currency by bank transfer to the account shown on the invoice, without deduction or set-off except where the law requires otherwise. An application for credit does not suspend an existing payment obligation.

If asked to pay a different bank account, independently confirm the request by calling our established number, +44 (0)330 043 8599. Do not rely solely on the contact details in an email requesting the change.

6. Account and credit approval

Due diligence clearance, opening a trading account and granting credit are separate decisions. Payment in advance does not remove due diligence requirements. LOVEGATE confirms the account outcome and any credit terms in writing.

We may verify business information, obtain trade references and assess credit risk. Personal credit searches are not automatic merely because someone signs an application. Any such search requires a relevant purpose, lawful basis and appropriate notice to the individual before the search.

Credit is subject to satisfactory checks and normally appropriate credit-insurance cover. The Managing Director or expressly authorised management approves exceptions, including uninsured credit. We may reduce, suspend or withdraw credit where cover is reduced or unavailable, payments are overdue or material credit risk changes.

Tell us promptly of changes to ownership, legal status, address, bank details or relevant VAT, EORI, AWRS and other registrations.

7. Delivery, collection and international terms

We deliver to the address, or make goods available for collection at the place, agreed for the order. Dates are estimates unless we agree a fixed commitment in writing. Delivery charges and any minimum drop size must be agreed for that order.

Unless otherwise agreed, UK deliveries of any excise goods are on a duty-paid basis to the agreed UK address. This describes excise status where relevant; it does not adopt the DDP Incoterm.

Export and international orders are normally EXW or FCA, Incoterms 2020, as expressly agreed for the order. The order confirmation must state the rule, named place and any agreed variation. Freight, export/import formalities, documents, risk and costs follow that agreed rule. Do not assume all export orders use the same arrangement.

Provide safe access and an authorised recipient. A signed delivery note is evidence of receipt, subject to documented shortages, damage and the claims provisions below; a signature does not automatically defeat a latent-defect claim. For duty-suspended goods, provide and maintain the approvals and movement details needed for lawful receipt.

Where we coordinate warehousing or distribution, we use agreed partners across the UK and Europe. Partner premises are not represented as LOVEGATE-owned facilities. The order must identify the arrangements and responsibilities applicable to the goods and movement.

8. Risk and ownership

Risk passes on delivery or collection as agreed for the order, or at the point specified by the agreed international trade rule. Payment and risk are separate from ownership.

Ownership of the goods remains with LOVEGATE until the price of those goods has been paid in full. This clause does not impose an all-monies security, a right of entry or additional storage, resale or recovery obligations. Any more detailed retention-of-title arrangement must be separately agreed in writing.

9. Inspection

For UK deliveries, note visible damage or shortages on delivery documents where reasonably possible and report them within 24 hours of delivery with supporting details and photographs where appropriate.

For UK customer collections where inspection at collection is not practicable, inspect promptly on arrival at your premises and report visible damage or shortages within 24 hours of arrival.

For export, deep-sea and customer-arranged freight where inspection at collection is not practicable, inspect as soon as reasonably practicable at destination and notify visible damage or shortages as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within five working days of arrival. These notification requirements do not exclude liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

10. Claims

Send claims in writing to info@lovegatemarketing.com with the order reference, products, quantities or cases affected, the delivery/collection dates and available evidence. Keep affected goods and packaging available for inspection where reasonable and safe.

Report defects that could not reasonably have been seen on inspection promptly after discovery and within a reasonable period. LOVEGATE reviews each claim on its evidence. Where accepted, an appropriate replacement, credit or refund will be agreed, subject to any rights that cannot lawfully be restricted. No separate unapproved claims procedure is incorporated by these terms.

11. Returns

There is no general right to return correctly supplied goods. Returns require our prior written agreement, including condition, transport and any agreed handling or restocking charge. Faulty, damaged, short or incorrectly supplied goods follow section 10.

12. Pallets and packaging

We do not normally require pallets to be returned. Special pallet or packaging arrangements must be agreed for the order. Goods are supplied in the producer's packaging and labelling. Explain destination-market labelling, language and documentation requirements before we accept an export order.

Agree destination-market language, labelling, traceability, shelf-life and applicable product requirements before order acceptance. Private-label or white-label work requires a written specification and allocation of artwork, compliance, approval and intellectual-property responsibilities. Applicable food, pet food/feed and cleaning-product requirements must be assessed for the product and destination; one certificate does not cover every activity.

13. Taxes duty and customs

VAT is charged at the applicable rate in addition to the price where due. Each party must provide the customs, export and receipt information required by the arrangements it has agreed, including relevant EORI details.

Liability for additional VAT, duty, import charges or clearance costs follows applicable law and the agreed order and trade terms. These terms do not create an unlimited indemnity for every tax or duty assessment.

Where a transaction involves alcohol or other excise goods, the duty status, applicable authorisations and movement documentation must be established before proceeding. UK customers purchasing alcohol for onward wholesale sale must supply their own AWRS number where required or explain why approval is not applicable. Overseas import and licensing requirements must also be met.

14. Late payment

Payment remains due on the agreed date. LOVEGATE allows a 14-day grace period after that date before charging late-payment interest. Interest will not be charged for those first 14 days or backdated to cover them.

If an amount remains unpaid after that period, we may suspend further supply, place orders on hold or reduce, suspend or withdraw credit. We may also claim interest and debt-recovery compensation to the extent permitted by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and applicable law. Any different contractual interest arrangement must be expressly agreed in writing. This clause does not change the invoice due date.

15. Events outside reasonable control

Neither party is responsible for a failure or delay to the extent caused by an event beyond its reasonable control. The affected party must promptly notify the other and take reasonable steps to limit the effect. Ordinary commercial inconvenience is not by itself such an event. Payment for goods already delivered remains due. Changes to or cancellation of an affected order should be agreed in writing.

16. Responsible trading

Both parties must comply with the product-safety, labelling, food or feed, customs, sanctions, export-control, anti-bribery and data-protection requirements applicable to their activities. Alcohol, AWRS, excise, age restrictions and responsible-sale requirements apply only where relevant to the goods and transaction.

LOVEGATE’s Due Diligence and Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policies explain our standards. We may request information and decline or suspend an order where checks or legal requirements are not satisfied.

17. Liability

Nothing excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any liability or rights that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

Any negotiated contractual limitation of liability must be expressly agreed in writing and remains subject to applicable law.

18. Governing law

These terms and disputes arising from them are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory legal requirement.

19. Advisory and management engagements

Advisory, market-entry, commercial strategy, planning, financial management and hands-on management work is undertaken only within a separately agreed written engagement. The engagement must identify the client, scope, deliverables, fees, payment, expenses, timetable, client responsibilities, reporting and authority to act.

Agree confidentiality, access to information, data-protection roles, intellectual-property rights, conflicts, termination and any liability provisions in that engagement. A goods order does not by itself create an advisory retainer, authority to bind a client or a guarantee of a commercial result. These goods terms are not a complete advisory-services contract.

Work requiring a regulated authorisation is outside an engagement unless the parties have established the required authorisation and expressly agreed the scope. Identify any specialist advice or approvals needed for the assignment before work begins.

20. Contact and document control

Orders, enquiries and claims: info@lovegatemarketing.com; +44 (0)330 043 8599. For payment queries, use the accounts contact on your invoice or ask our team to direct your query.

Owner: Managing Director. Review annually and following a material legal or business change. Version 1.0 is effective from 3 November 2026; existing accepted orders are not changed retrospectively.