Booking terms

Last updated: 29 September 2026

1. Who provides the service

The Teesside Spotlight is operated by Haroon Sohail Ghani, a sole trader trading as The Teesside Spotlight, at 156 Oxford Road, Middlesbrough, TS5 5EL. Contact: info@teessidespotlight.co.uk.

Bookings are for local businesses purchasing advertising for business purposes. By booking, you confirm that you are authorised to act for the named business. Nothing in these terms excludes rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

2. Your booking

Your order identifies the advert size, position, location, issue and price. Each booking covers one issue and does not renew automatically. We accept your booking when we send confirmation that your payment has been received and the space secured, or expressly accept an agreed offline arrangement in writing. A payment acknowledgement alone does not resolve a conflicting or unavailable booking; if we cannot secure your space, we will offer a full refund or an alternative you agree to.

An enquiry does not reserve a space. Online checkout reservations normally last 20 minutes. Manual reservations remain subject to the payment and reservation arrangements confirmed in writing.

Prices are shown before payment and are the final amounts payable for the stated service. The Teesside Spotlight is not VAT registered, so no VAT is charged.

3. Category exclusivity

Category exclusivity applies to the selected issue and distribution area, across its advert sizes and both sides. It does not extend to other issues or locations. Contact us before booking if your services overlap several categories. We will confirm any agreed category scope in writing. If a category conflict cannot be resolved before production, we will offer an agreed alternative or refund rather than publish competing bookings contrary to the agreed exclusivity.

4. Filling the issue and distribution timing

Each issue proceeds to production only when all its advertising spaces are filled and the necessary artwork is approved. The issue month is a target, not a promise that distribution will take place during that month. This condition and the expected distribution timing will be shown before you pay.

The final date for an issue to be ready to proceed is the last calendar day of its advertised month. For example, the final date for an October 2026 issue is 31 October 2026. If we miss that date, we will notify you and offer a full refund or a transfer to a later issue. We will not transfer your booking or extend the deadline without your agreement. If we receive no agreement to an alternative within 14 calendar days of notifying you, we will initiate a full refund.

We aim to complete printing and distribution within approximately 14 calendar days after all spaces are filled, all necessary artwork is approved and the issue is committed to printing. This is an estimate; we will confirm the distribution window when production is arranged. If we cannot meet that confirmed window, we will contact you promptly with an explanation and a proposed remedy. You may reject a material postponement and request a refund for the undelivered service; any retention for separately delivered work must be expressly agreed.

Distribution covers the area and planned household reach described for your issue. We do not guarantee that every recipient will read or respond to the advert. We remain responsible for providing the agreed advertising and distribution service.

5. Design and artwork approval

The standard advert design service is included in your booking. We also provide support if you choose to supply your own artwork. The included service comprises three initial design variations. You choose one design, followed by up to two rounds of revisions to that chosen design. Each round should contain your consolidated requested changes. Corrections to errors introduced by us do not count towards your two revision rounds. Additional work outside that scope requires a separate quote and your agreement before it starts.

Supply accurate copy, contact details, offers and images by the artwork deadline we confirm. You must have permission to use the supplied content and ensure advertising claims can be supported. You authorise us to use the content to fulfil your booking and share it as necessary with our designer, printer and distributor. Any additional promotional use requires an appropriate separate agreement.

We will send a final proof for your written approval before printing. Check all wording, images, phone numbers, links, QR destinations and offers carefully. Silence is not approval. Artwork upload or an internal review status alone is not your approval of a final proof. Your approval does not excuse changes or errors we introduce afterwards.

If you cannot meet the artwork deadline, contact us promptly. We will try to provide support or agree an extension. If that is not workable, we may offer a later issue subject to space and category availability. Transfers require your agreement. If no suitable transfer is agreed and your advert has not been committed to print, we will cancel and refund the booking.

6. Your cancellation rights under this policy

Cancel by emailing info@teessidespotlight.co.uk with your order number and business name.

You may cancel for a full refund until both of these have happened: you have approved the final artwork, and we have committed your advert to printing. We will tell you when print commitment occurs. Standard design work included in the booking will not attract a separate cancellation charge.

After both approval and print commitment, a change-of-mind cancellation will normally not qualify for a refund. If we avoid or recover costs attributable to your cancellation, we will refund the corresponding amount. This restriction does not remove your rights if we fail to provide the agreed service.

Separately quoted additional design work is governed by the cancellation arrangements expressly agreed for that work.

7. Cancellation by us and service problems

If we cancel an issue or cannot supply your booked space, you may choose a full refund or expressly accept an alternative.

We may refuse unlawful, misleading or unsuitable advertising. Where practicable, we will explain the concern and give you an opportunity to correct it before production. Any proposed deduction following a breach by you must be reasonable, evidenced, attributable to your booking and limited to unrecoverable costs. We will explain it in writing.

Tell us promptly about mistakes or delivery concerns. We will investigate and offer an appropriate correction, repeat service, price reduction or refund depending on the problem. These terms do not exclude liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

8. Campaign reporting and newsletter benefits

Only benefits expressly described for your package and confirmed in your booking are included. Double Mini, Single Standard and Double Standard are intended to include QR activity and phone-link click reporting. Double Standard is also intended to include a feature in The Teesside Spotlight newsletter to its opted-in readers.

OWNER LAUNCH CHECK: These tools are not set up yet. Configure and test them, and replace this paragraph with the precise reporting period, newsletter placement and timing before selling these benefits. Do not promise a particular mailing-list size without verified figures.

A QR visit is not proof of a unique person reading an advert. A phone-link click is not proof that a call connected or resulted in an enquiry or sale. We do not record calls. Newsletter and website reports may be affected by privacy settings, repeated activity and automated traffic. We do not guarantee particular numbers of scans, calls, enquiries or sales. This does not excuse failure to deliver a benefit we expressly agreed to provide.

Newsletter inclusion does not give an advertiser access to our subscriber list. Enquiries made specifically to an advertiser are handled as explained on the relevant form and in our privacy notice.

9. Refunds and contact

Refunds due under these terms will be initiated within 14 calendar days using the original payment method where possible. Your bank or payment provider may take additional time to display the funds.

For booking questions or complaints, contact info@teessidespotlight.co.uk or write to the address above. These terms apply to bookings made from their effective date. Later changes do not retrospectively remove rights under an existing booking.