Keep email exactly as long as the law requires.
Keeping email too long creates GDPR risk. Deleting it too early creates regulatory risk. IP Four configures retention policies that keep every email for exactly the right period, automatically, with full audit trail.
Retention policies that match your regulatory obligations.
From granular per-user policies to automated deletion with audit trail, every capability is designed to keep you compliant without manual intervention.
Granular Retention Period Configuration
Retention periods configured per user, department, mailbox, or organisation-wide. Different retention rules applied to different email categories. Regulatory minimums enforced automatically.
Regulatory Retention Mapping
Retention periods mapped to your specific regulatory obligations. FCA, SRA, NHS, GDPR, and sector-specific requirements translated into archive configuration. No guesswork on minimum periods.
Automated End-of-Life Deletion
Emails automatically deleted at the end of their retention period with full audit trail. Deletion certificates generated for compliance documentation. Legal holds override automatic deletion.
Policy Audit and Reporting
Monthly reports showing retention policy compliance across all mailboxes. Exceptions and overrides documented. Policy change history maintained for regulatory inspection.
Policy Review and Update Workflow
Annual retention policy reviews built into the service. Regulatory changes monitored and policies updated automatically. Change management process ensures no gaps during transitions.
Legal Hold and Policy Interaction
Legal holds automatically suspend retention policies for affected mailboxes. Hold management interface shows which emails are protected and why. Holds released only by authorised personnel.
From regulatory mapping to automated compliance.
Regulatory Obligation Mapping
We identify every regulatory body your organisation is subject to and map their specific email retention requirements. Conflicts between different regulatory minimums are resolved in favour of the longer period.
Policy Design
Retention policies designed for each user group, department, and email category. Policies documented in plain English alongside the regulatory basis for each retention period.
Archive Configuration
Policies configured in the archive platform. Automatic deletion schedules set. Legal hold procedures integrated. Policy documentation approved by your compliance team before activation.
Testing and Validation
Retention policies tested against sample mailboxes. Deletion schedules verified. Legal hold override confirmed. Audit trail completeness validated before full deployment.
Staff Communication
Retention policy summary communicated to relevant staff. IT and compliance teams briefed on legal hold procedures. Policy documentation added to your information governance framework.
Annual Review and Maintenance
Annual retention policy reviews included in the service. Regulatory changes monitored throughout the year. Policy updates deployed within agreed timescales when regulations change.
How we have helped UK businesses stay compliant.
Law Firm SRA Compliance
A Preston solicitors practice needed to demonstrate to their professional indemnity insurer and the SRA that client email was retained for the required minimum periods and deleted appropriately thereafter.
Retention policies configured to SRA requirements. Monthly compliance reports generated automatically. Insurer and SRA requirements met. Renewal premium reduced following compliance demonstration.
Financial Services FCA Alignment
A Manchester IFA needed to align their email retention with FCA requirements following a regulatory review that identified gaps in their current retention approach.
FCA retention requirements mapped to archive configuration. Gaps in historical retention documented. Going-forward compliance achieved within 30 days. FCA review closed with no further action.
Multi-Sector Organisation Policy Rationalisation
A Leeds healthcare and social care provider operated across NHS and local authority contracts, each with different email retention requirements. Their single retention policy was not meeting either.
Separate retention policies configured per service line. NHS and local authority requirements both met. Unified compliance reporting produced monthly. No further regulatory concerns raised.
Get your retention policies right first time.
Our free retention policy review maps your regulatory obligations and identifies any gaps in your current approach. No cost, no obligation.