What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small text file that is sent by a website server to your browser and stored on your computer. Cookies allow website operators to accumulate useful information, such as whether the computer (or its user) has visited the site before. Cookies are needed for a number of functions which make websites work, or work more efficiently, and they can provide information to website owners about how you use their website. Cookies can also be used to show you adverts that are relevant to you, based on your browsing habits, to personalize your user experience.
How do we use cookies?
We use cookies to monitor how people use our website, including estimating audience size and patterns of use, to help us provide you with a better service. Cookies also make it easier for you to use the website on future visits, and allow us to personalize the content of the website to you by recording information about your preferences.
We use both persistent cookies (which expire on a specified date) and session cookies (which expire when you close your browser).
The cookies used on this site have been categorized based on definitions given in the ICC UK Cookie Guide. We use the following cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies. These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website.
- Analytical/performance cookies. These allow us to recognize and count our website's visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily. We use Google Analytics performance cookies to provide anonymous statistics on how our site is used. Some of our performance cookies may be managed by third parties.
- Functionality cookies. These are used to recognize you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region - or your cookies and marketing preferences).
- Targeting cookies.These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.
Please note that third parties (including, for example providers of external services like web traffic analysis services such as Google Analytics, or advertising services and vendors) may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be analytical/performance cookies or targeting cookies.
You decide which cookies we use
We understand that not everyone wants to see targeted adverts or contribute to statistics on website use, so we will ask you when you first visit our website if you consent to the use of cookies. However, please bear in mind that if you don't allow us to use certain cookies it may prevent you from accessing parts of our website or result in a loss of functionality which degrades your experience of the website.
In addition to telling us your preferences, you can also configure cookie settings in your web browser. You can find out more about how to do this at the following links:
What cookies do we use?
Our Cookies
We use the following first party cookies on the website - these are cookies that we send to your browser.
| Cookie Name | Cookie Description | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| user_loc | Records your location (country level) | Session |
| fixed_bar | Records the open or closed state of a banner on the website | Session |
| cookie_bar | Records whether or not you have seen and consented to our cookie policy | 1 Year |
| _ga |
Google Analytics – used to distinguish users Click here for further information about how Google Analytics uses cookies. |
2 years |
| _gid | Google Analytics – used to distinguish users | 24 hours |
| _gat | Google Analytics – used to throttle request rate | 1 minute |
| _omappvp | OptinMonster – shows or hides overlays and banners depending on whether you’re a new or returning visitor | 11 years |
| __gads | Google AdSense – used to display targeted (and non-targeted) adverts | 2 years |
| _omappvs | OptinMonster – shows or hides overlays and banners depending on whether you’re a new or returning visitor | Session |
Third Party Cookies
A number of third party cookies are used on our website - these are cookies that are set by external websites.
We work with various advertising partners to deliver targeted adverts that are relevant to you based on your browsing habits or the content of our website and other websites you visit. When adverts are loading, you may receive cookies from a wide range of external domains in our advertising network. Whilst you can choose whether or not to accept these cookies through your browser settings, we don’t have control over the cookies that sites in our network place when adverts are displayed in your browser. Third parties may use both persistent cookies (of varying persistence) and session cookies.
The main advertising services that we use are listed below, and you can click the links for each to find out more information about their use of cookies.
| Provider | Description |
|---|---|
| Google AdSense & Doubleclick |
In addition to the first party cookies above, Google AdSense may place third party cookies (which may
come from google.com or doubleclick.net or various advertising partners) in connection with targeted
(and non-targeted) adverts. Click here for further information about how AdSense uses cookies.
|
| Svorn | Sovrn is an advertising network and may send you third party cookies (which may appear to come from “lejit” or “meridian”). You may also receive various third party cookies from their advertising partners in connection with targeted adverts. Click here for further information about how Sovrn uses cookies. |
| Criteo | Criteo is an advertising network which undertakes dynamic retargeting between browsers, and may send you third party cookies. You may also receive various third party cookies from their advertising partners in connection with targeted adverts. Click here for further information about how Criteo uses cookies. |
|
AppNexus Adobe 33across/GetClicky/Tynt Quantcast Rubicon Project |
We use these services in connection with our targeted advertising and for statistics and analytics. You may receive various third party cookies from these services and their advertising partners. Click on each of the links to the left to find out more about each provider’s use of cookies. |
|
AddThis ShareThis |
We use these services to provide sharing options on our website. You may receive various third party cookies from other sites. Click on each of the links to the left to find out more about each provider’s use of cookies. |
Further information about cookies
There's a lot of good information about cookies available online. For more information about cookies generally visit allaboutcookies.org.
Get in touch
Contact us if you have any questions about how we use cookies or about your privacy.
