Cookies Page
Cookie Policy
What are cookies?
Cookies are pieces of information which are stored by your web browser on your computer’s hard drive. We may use cookies to collect information about your computer, including where available your IP address, operating system and browser type, for the purposes of our system administration. This is statistical data about our users’ browsing actions and does not identify any individual. Cookies help us to improve our Site and to deliver a better and more personalised service. They enable us:
- To store information about your preferences and so allow us to customise our site according to your individual interests.
- To speed up your searches.
- To recognise you when you return to our Site.
Some of our pages may also contain images called ‘web beacons’ (also known as ‘clear gifs’), which allow us to count visitors. Web beacons only collect limited information, including a cookie number, a timestamp, and a record of the page on which they are placed. We may also carry web beacons placed by third party advertisers. These beacons do not carry any personally identifiable information and are only used to track the effectiveness of a particular campaign.
Information collected by cookies and web beacons is not personally identifiable.
Before we can place cookies onto your computer to measure performance and functionality, or to place targeting and advertising cookies we need your permission.
What types of cookie are there?
Broadly speaking there are four types of cookie – strictly necessary, cookies, performance cookies, functionality cookies and advertising cookies.
- Strictly necessary cookies are essential to navigate around a website and use its features. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to use basic services like shopping baskets and e-billing.
- Performance cookies collect anonymous data on how visitors use a website; they can’t track users, and are only used to improve how a website works.
- Functionality cookies allow users to customise how a website looks for them: they can remember usernames, language preferences and regions, and can be used to provide more personal services like local weather reports and traffic news.
- Advertising and targeting cookies are used to deliver advertisements more relevant to you, but can also limit the number of times you see an advertisement, and be used to chart the effectiveness of an ad campaign by tracking users’ clicks. They can also provide security in transactions. They are usually placed by third-party advertising networks with a website operator’s permission, but can be placed by the operator themselves. They can remember that you have visited a website, and this information can be shared with other organisations, including other advertisers.
How do I turn cookies off?
If you do not wish us to collect this information, you can refuse to accept cookies by activating the setting on your web browser which creates a block on cookies. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Site. Unless you have changed your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will use cookies when you log on to our Site.
Most browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can alter the settings of your browser to erase cookies or prevent automatic acceptance if you prefer. Generally you have the option to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is issued or reject all cookies. Visit the ‘options’ or ‘preferences’ menu on your browser to change settings.
User agreement
By continuing to use our site, you agree to the placement of cookies on your device. If you choose not to receive our cookies, we cannot guarantee that your experience will be as fulfilling as it would otherwise be.
