What Are Cookies

 

Cookies are a small file of letters and numbers that we put onto your computer when you visit certain web pages.

These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users helping us to provide you with a good browsing experience and helping us to monitor and improve the effectiveness of our site.

 

It is important to understand that cookies do not, and cannot harm your computer.

 

Some websites, in particular those websites with a shopping cart, require cookies to be enabled in order to track what customers have in their 'shopping cart' and to remember customers when they return to the site, however should you not wish to enable cookies, you are still able to browse sites for research purposes.

 

Most web browsers have cookies enabled, however should you wish to 'disable cookies' information on how to do this can be found in the 'managing cookies' section.

 

Information stored on cookies does not contain information that can personally identify individuals such as debit or credit card information, but we do use encrypted information gathered from them to help improve your experience of the site. Many websites also use 'analytic' cookies from web browsers such as Google. These cookies track visitor traffic and monitor how site visitors navigate round websites. The information collected does not identify individuals but does help companies ensure that visitors to the site are able to easily find what they are looking for.

 

'Analytical cookies' track information such as what search phrases were used to find a site and what are the most popular pages are. It also tracks from which pages visitors leave a website.

 

'Targeting or Advertising cookies'

 

These cookies are used in order to deliver adverts that are highly relevant to you and your interests. In addition they can be used in order to limit the number of times you see an advertisement, this type of cookie is key in measuring the effectiveness of the advertising campaigns.

 

Usually this type of cookie is placed by advertising networks with the website operator's permission. They remember that you have visited a specific website and this information can then be shared with other organisations such as advertisers.

 

Please note that the information that is collected is not able to personally identify individuals, merely the device used.

 

'Third-party cookies'

 

When you visit websites and a page contains embedded content, for example, a video stream from social media such as Facebook, Linkedin and YouTube, you will probably be sent cookies from these websites. As we are not able to control the setting of these cookies through our website, we suggest you check the third-party websites for more information about the cookies they use and how to manage them.

 

You can find more information regarding the type of cookies that are used on this site in the 'Our Cookies Policy' section.We are providing this information as part of our desire to comply with the recent European legislation (European Directive – 2009/136/EC), in our belief in being open and honest about your privacy when using our website.

 

Cookies Set By Google Analytics

 

Google Analytics sets the following cookies as described in the table below. A default configuration and use of Google Analytics sets only the first 4 cookies in the table.

 

Name	Description	Expires
__utma	This cookie is typically written to the browser upon the first visit. This cookie is used to validate whether unique or returning visitors to your site. Additionally, this cookie is provided with a unique ID that Google Analytics uses to ensure both the validity and accessibility of the cookie as an extra security measure.	2 years from set/update.
__utmb	This cookie is used to establish and continue a user session with your site. When a user views a page on your site, the Google Analytics code attempts to update this cookie. If it does not find the cookie, a new one is written and a new session is established. Each time a user visits a different page on your site, this cookie is updated to expire in 30 minutes, thus continuing a single session for as long as user activity continues within 30-minute intervals. This cookie expires when a user pauses on a page on your site for longer than 30 minutes.	30 minutes from set/update.
__utmc	Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether or not to establish a new session for the user.	Not set.
__utmz	This cookie stores the type of referral used by the visitor to reach your site, whether via a direct method, a referring link, a website search, or a campaign such as an ad or an email link. It is used to calculate the effectiveness of search engine traffic, ad campaigns and page navigation within your own site. The cookie is updated with each page view to your site.	6 months from set/update.
__utmv	This cookie is not normally present in a default configuration of the tracking code. The __utmv cookie passes the information provided by visitors reacting to preferences or descriptive groups (age, income bands, location, preferred product groups etc) to create a custom user segment.	2 years from set/update.
__utmx	This cookie is used by Website Optimizer and only set when the Website Optimizer tracking code is installed and correctly configured for your pages. When the optimizer script executes, this cookie stores the variation this visitor is assigned to for each experiment, so the visitor has a consistent experience on your site.

 

Our Cookie Policy

 

To get the best possible experience in using our website your device will need to be set up to enable cookies.

Cookies we use do not store personally identifiable information (name, address or card / banking payment details) they simply associate you with certain information once you have signed in.

 

Should you wish to restrict, block or delete cookies from our website or any other website for that matter this can be done through your website browser.

As each browser works in a slightly different way you should consult the 'Help' section of the browser or the device manual in order to change your cookie preference settings.

 

We have listed below the main cookies we use and an explanation as to the cookies main purpose.

 

Information about any 3rd party cookies may also be found in this section.

 

Cookie Name	Cookie Purpose
_utma, _utmb, _utmc, _utmz	These are cookies from Google and are used to track visitor traffic numbers and the way visitors navigate the website, allowing us to improve the experience for visitors.

 

The above information is correct as at 1st October 2013.

 

Managing Cookies

 

If you do not have cookies enabled on your device it is likely that you will not get the best experience from visiting websites as you will be limited to browsing and researching.

 

For example you would not be able to purchase products.

 

To enable cookies

 

If you're not sure what type and version of web browser you currently use to access the Internet please find below some useful tips for some of the most popular used web browsers.

 

For Apple devices including Macs, Iphones, Ipads etc:

• Open the browser window

• click on the Apple menu

• select the 'About' option

 

For other devices and PCs:

• Open the internet browser.

• click on the 'Help' tab at the top of your browser window

• select the 'About' option

 

How to check cookies are enabled / disabled for PCs & Apple Devices.

 

Mozilla Firefox

• Click on 'Tools' tab found at the top of your browser window.

• Select 'Options'

• Click on the Privacy icon

• Click on Cookies, then select 'allow sites to set cookies'

 

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0, 7.0, 8.0

• Click on 'Tools' at the top of your browser window.

• Select 'Internet options' ,

• Click on the 'Privacy' tab

• If you set the Privacy level to Medium or below this will enable cookies in your browser.

• If you set the Privacy level above Medium this will disable cookies

 

Google Chrome

• Click on 'Tools' at the top of your browser window.

• Select Options

• Click the tab 'Under the Hood'

• Under the 'Privacy' section,

• Select the 'Content settings' button

• Now select 'Allow local data to be set'

 

Safari

• Click on the Cog icon at the top of your browser window.

• Select the 'Preferences' option

• Click on 'Security'

• Check the option that says 'Block third-party and advertising cookies'

• Click 'Save'

 

How to check cookies are enabled for Macs

 

Mozilla and Netscape on OSX

• Click on 'Mozilla' or 'Netscape' at the top of your browser window.

• Select the 'Preferences' option

• Under 'Privacy & Security' scroll down until you see 'Cookies'

• Select 'Enable cookies for the originating web site only'

 

Safari on OSX

• Click on 'Safari' at the top of your browser window.

• Select the 'Preferences' option.

• Click on 'Security'

• Click 'Accept cookies'

• Select the 'Only from site you navigate to' message.

 

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 on OSX

• Click on 'Explorer' at the top of your browser window.

• Select 'Preferences' options

• Under 'Receiving Files' Scroll down until you see 'Cookies'

• Under 'Receiving Files' Scroll down until you see 'Cookies'

• Under 'Receiving Files' Scroll down until you see 'Cookies'

 

Opera

• Click on 'Menu' at the top of your browser window.

• Select 'Settings'

• Select 'Preferences',

• Select the 'Advanced' tab

• Select 'Accept cookies' option

 

For other browsers or devices not covered, please can you refer to the manual or online help sections for whichever device or browser you use.

 

Third-party cookies

 

When you visit websites and a page contains embedded content, for example, a video stream from social media such as Facebook, Linkedin and YouTube, you will probably be sent cookies from these websites. As we are not able to control the setting of these cookies, we suggest you check the third-party websites for more information about the cookies they use and how to manage them.

 

More information

 

Should you wish to find out more information you may do so by visiting the following site;

 

Information Commissioners Office. www.ico.gov.uk