Our Cookies Policy
Last updated on 24th October, 2018
Your privacy is important to us. Below you can find information about the cookies that we use on our site. By continuing to browse our site, you consent to our placing cookies on your computer (unless you have chosen to disable them via your browser - see below). However, if you do not allow cookies on your computer you will not be able to use our website. We are working on making our site better so the cookies might change. We’ll make sure to update this page if this happens.
About cookies – What are they?
A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
Cookies may be either "persistent" cookies or "session" cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.
Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.
Cookies can be used by web servers to identify and track users as they navigate different pages on a website and identify users returning to a website.
Most browsers allow you to manage cookies in a way that suits you. This is done by changing your browser’s settings. The settings of your browser should give you the ability to disable cookies from sites on site by site basis and to disable cookies from sites that you do not trust. Please note that disabling cookies or other tracking technologies on our websites may diminish and/or disable some of the features or whole parts of our websites, and its functionality may no longer work as intended.
If you'd like more detailed information about cookies, you can find all about them over at
www.allaboutcookies.org and
www.youronlinechoices.eu.
Cookies and how they benefit you
Our website uses cookies, as almost all websites do, to help provide you with the best experience we can.
Our cookies help us:
- Make our website work as you'd expect
- Remember your settings during and between visits
- Improve the speed/security of the site
- Continuously improve our website for you
- Make our marketing more efficient (ultimately helping us to offer the service we do at the price we do)
You can learn more about all the cookies we use below.
Granting us permission to use cookies
If the settings on your software that you are using to view this website (your browser) are adjusted to accept cookies we take this, and your continued use of our website, to mean that you agree with this. Should you wish to remove or not use cookies from our site you can learn how to do this below, however doing so will likely mean that our site will not work as you would expect.
Cookies used on our website are:
Necessary cookies:
Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.
__cfduid: Used by the content network, Cloudflare, to identify trusted web traffic.
cookieconsent_dismissed: Used to remember if visitor has agreed to the use of cookies.
VISITORSESSION: Registers a unique ID to the visitor during their session on our website.
Statistics:
Statistic cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting and reporting information anonymously.
_ga: Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
_gat: Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate
_gid: Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
collect: Used to send data to Google Analytics about how the visitor’s device and behaviour. Tracks the visitor across devices and marketing channels
tawkUUID: This cookie is used to collect information about how the visitor interacts with the live chat function on the website.
Marketing:
Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.
ads/ga-audiences: Used by Google AdWords to re-engage visitors that are likely to convert to customers based on the visitor’s online behaviour across websites.
IDE: Used by Google DoubleClick to register and report the website user’s actions after viewing or clicking one of the advertiser’s ads with the purpose of measuring the efficacy of an ad and to present targeted ads to the user.
NID: Registers a unique ID that identifies a returning user’s device. The ID is used for targeted ads.
test_cookie: Used to check if the user’s browser supports cookies
DoubleClick: Used by Google to track the visitor’s behaviour on our website and on other websites for the purpose of showing the visitor interest-based advertisements.
Unclassified cookies:
Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies.
__tawkuuid: Used to identify the visitor via their log-in information in order to provide online assistance via a chat-box system.
ss: This cookie is used to deliver content tailored to the end user's interests and improve content creation.
TawkConnectionTime: Monitors website use & pops up chat window when our staff are online available to chat.
TawkWindowName: Enables the live chat features provided on our website
twk_56f1674824c5a0b345c6df78: Enables the live chat features provided on our website
__atuvc: This cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget which is commonly embedded in websites to enable visitors to share content with a range of networking and sharing platforms. It stores an updated page share count.
__atuvs: This cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget which is commonly embedded in websites to enable visitors to share content with a range of networking and sharing platforms. It stores an updated page share count.
Anonymous Visitor Statistics Cookies:
We use cookies to compile visitor statistics such as how many people have visited our website, what type of technology they are using (e.g. Mac or Windows which helps to identify when our site isn't working as it should for particular technologies), how long they spend on the site, what page they look at etc. This helps us to continuously improve our website. These so called “analytics” programs also tell us on an anonymous basis if and how people reached our site (e.g. from a search engine) and whether they have been here before helping us to put more money into developing our services for you instead of marketing spend.
There is no way to prevent these cookies being set other than to not use our site.
Third party functions
Our site, like most websites, includes functionality provided by third parties. A common example is an embedded YouTube video.
We may publish Google AdSense interest-based advertisements on our website. These are tailored by Google to reflect your interests. To determine your interests, Google will track your behaviour on our website and on other websites across the web using the DoubleClick cookie. This behaviour tracking allows Google to tailor the advertisements you see on other websites to reflect your interests (we do not currently publish interest-based advertisements on our website).
You can view, delete or add interest categories associated with your browser by visiting:
http://www.google.com/settings/ads/. You can also opt out of the AdSense partner network cookie using those settings or using the NAI's (Network Advertising Initiative's) multi-cookie opt-out mechanism at:
http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/.
However, these opt-out mechanisms themselves use cookies, and if you clear the cookies from your browser your opt-out will not be maintained. To ensure that an opt-out is maintained in respect of a particular browser, you may wish to consider using the Google browser plug-in available at:
https://www.google.com/settings/ads/plugin.
Disabling these cookies will likely limit or break the functions offered by these third parties.
Turning Cookies Off
Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies; for example:
- in Internet Explorer (version 11) you can block cookies using the cookie handling override settings available by clicking "Tools", "Internet Options", "Privacy" and then "Advanced";
- in Firefox (version 36) you can block all cookies by clicking "Tools", "Options", "Privacy", selecting "Use custom settings for history" from the drop-down menu, and unticking "Accept cookies from
- in Chrome (version 41), you can block all cookies by accessing the "Customise and control" menu, and clicking "Settings", "Show advanced settings" and "Content settings", and then selecting "Block sites from setting any data" under the "Cookies" heading.
Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites. If you block cookies, you will not be able to use all the features on our website.
Deleting cookies
You can delete cookies already stored on your computer; for example:
- in Internet Explorer (version 11), you must manually delete cookie files (you can find instructions for doing so at
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/internet-explorer/delete-manage-cookies#ie=ie-11);
- in Firefox (version 36), you can delete cookies by clicking "Tools", "Options" and "Privacy", then selecting "Use custom settings for history" from the drop-down menu, clicking "Show Cookies", and then clicking "Remove All Cookies"; and
- in Chrome (version 41), you can delete all cookies by accessing the "Customise and control" menu, and clicking "Settings", "Show advanced settings" and "Clear browsing data", and then selecting "Cookies and other site and plug-in data" before clicking "Clear browsing data".
Deleting cookies will have a negative impact on the usability of many websites.
