What is a cookie?

 

When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, your computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to identify you personally.

 

These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example, recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don’t need to do it for every web page requested.

 

Measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there’s enough capacity to ensure they are fast and analysing anonymised data to help us understand how people interact with our services.

 

A cookie often includes a randomly generated number which is stored on your device. Many cookies are automatically deleted after you finish using the website.

 

Restricting the use of cookies

 

If you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by our websites, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The ‘Help’ function within your browser should tell you how.

 

Alternatively, you may wish to visit http://www.aboutcookies.org/ which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your machine as well as more general information about cookies.

 

Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of our website.

 

If you wish to view your cookie code, just click on a cookie to open it. You'll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie.

 

Different types of cookies

 

There are two types of cookie you may encounter when using this website:

 

First party cookies: these are our own cookies, controlled by us and used to provide information about usage of our site. Website analytic providers such as Google Analytics set cookies to help accurately estimate the number of visitors to the website and volumes of usage.

 

Third party cookies: these are cookies found in other companies’ internet tools which may be used to enhance a website, for example Facebook and Twitter have their own cookies, which are controlled by them. This website does not control the dissemination of these cookies. You should check the third party websites for more information about these. To opt-out of third-parties collecting any data regarding your interaction on our website, please refer to their websites for further information.

 

Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/)

 

These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and pages visited. For further information on Google’s Privacy Policy (http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/policies/privacy/) and Google Analytics Cookie Page (https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage#cookiesSet)

 

YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/)

 

We may use YouTube to host video content. When you view a web page on our site with an embedded YouTube video, YouTube creates cookies. We use the YouTube service as a convenience for our visitors, and we use it on the basis that Google adheres to its Policies & Principles (http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/technologies/cookies/)

 

Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/)

 

We may use Google Maps on our website to provide information on how to find a location. Google Maps uses cookies. We use Google's interactive maps because we believe they provide a helpful way for our visitors to identify how best to find a location, and on the basis that Google adheres to its Privacy Policy (http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/policies/privacy/) and its terms of service for Google Maps (http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/help/terms_maps.html)

 

Twitter (http://twitter.com/)

 

We may use the Twitter "Follow Button" plugin to help us market our business using Twitter. The plugin detects whether you are logged in to Twitter when you visit our website and uses this information to present either a "Follow" or "You Follow" message with various other details from Twitter. Twitter uses cookies. We would use the plugin as a convenience for our users and on the basis that Twitter adheres to its Privacy Policy (http://twitter.com/privacy)

 

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/)

 

We may use the Facebook "Like Box" plugin to help us market our business using the Facebook Social Network. The plugin detects whether you have "Liked" our Facebook page and uses this information to present either a "Like" button or a "You Like this" message with various other associated details from Facebook. Facebook uses cookies. We would use the plugin as a convenience for our visitors, and on the basis that Facebook adheres to its Data Use Policy (http://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/)

 

Google+ (http://plus.google.com/)

 

We may use the Google+ plugin to help us market and promote our business using Google's services. The plugin allows visitors to use the "+1" button to recommend our website to their contacts. Google+ uses cookies.  We would use the plugin as a convenience for our visitors and on the basis that Google adheres to its Privacy Policy (http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/policies/privacy/)