A "cookie" is a piece of information that is stored on your computer's hard drive and which records how you move your way around a website so that, when you revisit that website, it can present tailored options based on the information stored about your last visit. Cookies can also be used to analyse traffic and for advertising and marketing purposes. 

  

You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse the setting of cookies. However, if you select this setting, you may be unable to access certain parts of our Site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you use our Site. The “Help” menu of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. For more information about cookies and how to stop cookies being installed or how to delete existing cookies from your hard drive visit the following website: http://www.allaboutcookies.org.

We use cookies to track your use 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 might need or want.

Cookies are either: 

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

- Persistent cookies: a persistent cookie is stored as a file on your computer and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that website again. We use persistent cookies for Google Analytics.

  

- Strictly necessary ( or “essential”) cookies: These cookies are essential to enable you to use the website effectively, such as when buying a product and / or service, and therefore cannot be turned off. 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 remembering where you have been on the internet.

- Performance ( or “analytical”)cookies: These cookies enable us to monitor and improve the performance of our website. For example, they allow us to count visits, identify traffic sources and see which parts of the site are most popular.

- Functionality ( or “user”) cookies: These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced features. For instance, we may be able to provide you with news or updates relevant to the services you use. They may also be used to provide services you have requested such as viewing a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect is usually anonymised.

Some of the cookies described in the "How Do We Use Cookies” above are stored on your machine by third parties when you use our Site. Third parties may also read cookies on your browser to collect information or to serve content or advertisements to you. We have no control over these cookies or how the third parties use them. They are used to allow that third party to provide a service to us, for example analytics. For more information on these cookies and how to disable them, please see:

• Internet Advertising Bureau website at http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ where you will be able to opt-out of receiving Interest-Based Advertising cookies, and/or

• If you want to know more about how cookies work and how to manage or delete them, visit the World Wide Web Consortium's website.