Cookies and how we use them:

A ‘cookie’ is a piece of information that is stored on your computer’s hard drive, if you agree to this, and which records how you move your way around a website so that, when you revisit that website, it can present tailored options for you 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 almost every website and cause no harm to your computer, phone or tablet and do not damage their respective operating systems.

We are required to obtain your consent for all non-essential cookies used on our website. You can block cookies (including essential 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 to block essential cookies, you may not be able to access all or part of our site.

How do we use cookies?

We use cookies to track your usage of our website. This enables us to understand how you use the site and track any patterns with regards to how you are using our website. This helps us to develop and improve our website as well as products and/or services in response to what you may need from us.

Cookies are either:

Session cookies: these are only stored on your device during your web session and are automatically deleted when you close your web browser – they usually store an anonymous session ID allowing you to browse a website without having to log into each page but they do not collect any personal data from your device.

OR:

Persistent cookies: a persistent cookie is stored as a small file on your device and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you return to the site.

Cookies can be categorised as follows:

Strictly necessary cookies: these cookies are essential to the enable you to use this website effectively such as when buying a product or service. Without these cookies, the services available to you on our website cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or tracking other sites you have visited on the internet.

Performance cookies: these cookies enable us to to monitor and improve the performance of our website. For example they allow us to count visits, identify sources of traffic to our site, and see which parts of the site are most popular.

We use persistent performance cookies for Google Analytics 4. 

Functionality cookies: these cookies allow our website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced features. For instance, they enable us to provide functionality like viewing a video or commenting on a blog post. The information functionality cookies collect is usually anonymised, except where you choose to identify yourself, i.e. in commenting on a blog.

First and third party cookies: First party cookies are cookies set by a website itself. Third party cookies are cookies placed on websites by sites other than the site itself such as where a site carries advertising by third parties or use pixels from sites such as Facebook. These are designed to show you more relevant content when you visit their sites.

We only use first party cookies and Google Analytics cookies on this website.

Google Analytics cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our website. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. Google Analytics enables us to offer you a better service in a number of ways including providing more of the type of content site users visit most and improving the time it takes for site pages to load. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, you cannot be personally identified from the data collected by Google Analytics.

Google has created a browser extension to enable you to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, you can download it by going to https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

You can control your cookie settings through your browser. 

If you have any questions about the cookies we use, please email us at [email protected]