WHAT’S A COOKIE?
When we’re talking about websites, a “cookie” is a piece of information that is stored on your computer’s hard drive if you agree to it. They record how you move your way around a website so that, when you revisit that website, it can present tailored options based on the information stored about your last visit. Cookies can also be used to analyse traffic and for advertising and marketing purposes.
Cookies are used by nearly all websites and do not harm your system.
We’re required to obtain your consent for all non-essential cookies used on our website. You can block cookies (including essential/necessary cookies) at any time by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block essential/necessary cookies you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.
HOW WE USE COOKIES
We use cookies to track your use of our website. We promise we’re not up to anything untoward, it just enables us to understand how you use our site and track any patterns. This helps us to develop and improve our website, as well as services, in response to what you might need or want.
Cookies are either:
- Session cookies: these are only stored on your computer during your web session and are automatically deleted when you close your browser – they usually store an anonymous session ID allowing you to browse a website without having to log in to each page but they do not collect any personal data from your computer; or
- Persistent cookies: a persistent cookie is stored as a file on your computer and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that website again. We use persistent cookies for Google Analytics, GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and Google reCAPTCHA.
Cookies can also be categorised as follows:
- Strictly necessary cookies: These cookies are essential to enable you to use websites effectively, such as when buying a product and/or service. Without these cookies, the services available to you on a website cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you have been on the internet.
- Performance cookies: These cookies enable a website owner to monitor and improve the performance of a website. For example, they allow the website owner to count visits, identify traffic sources and see which parts of the site are most popular.
- Functionality cookies: These cookies allow a website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced features. For instance, to provide you with news or updates relevant to the services you use. They may also be used to provide services you have requested such as viewing a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect is usually anonymised.
- Targeting cookies: These cookies record your visit to a website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. This information can be used to make a website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests.
- First and third-party cookies: First-party cookies are cookies set by the website you are visiting. Third-party cookies are cookies that are set by a website other than the one you are visiting, such as where there are adverts on the website or where the website owner has used Facebook pixels so that they can show you relevant content from them when you are on Facebook.
COOKIES WE USE ON THIS WEBSITE
We use first and third-party cookies. You can find more information about the individual cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them in the table below: