What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small piece of information sent by a web server to the web browser on your computer, which enables the web server to collect information from the browser. We use cookies in several ways to help us improve our website and the service that we provide you.
Some common uses are: To remember you when you visit this website to keep track of your browsing patterns and to build up a profile of how you and other users use the website; To remember your account login, so that you don’t need to enter your username/password every time you visit your account page. Some third party adverts generate their own cookies to track how many people have seen a particular advertisement.
How do we use cookies on this website?
We use a number of different cookies on our site. The following list describes the cookies we use on this site and what we use them for. We currently operate an ‘implied consent’ policy which means that we assume you are happy with this usage. If you are not happy with this usage, then you should not use this site.
Session Cookies
We use a session cookie to remember your log-in for you and what you have put in the shopping basket. These we deem strictly necessary to the working of the website. If these are disabled then functionality on the site will be broken. These cookies are removed at the end of your browser session.
Persistent cookies
These are stored on your computer device in between browser sessions to allow your login to be remembered and whether you have visited before or not. Persistent cookies may be used for a variety of purposes including remembering your user preferences.
Google Analytics
Cookies named _utma through _utmz are generated by Google Analytics which are primarily used to track visits. _utma stores each user’s amount of visits, and the time of the first visit, the previous visit, and the current visit. _utmz stores where a visitor came from (search engine, search keyword, link). _utmb and _utmc are used to check how long you stay on the site: when a visit starts and ends.
Third party advertising cookies
Most of the advertisements you see on the website are generated by third parties. Some of these third parties generate their own cookies to track how many people have seen a particular advertisement (or use the services of third parties to do this), and to track how many people have seen it more than once.
These cookies cannot be used to identify an individual; they can only be used for statistical purposes, for example, in providing you with advertisements that are more relevant to your interests. Some of the information gleaned from third party cookies will be aggregated with other anonymous information for statistical purposes.
The third party companies that generate these cookies have their own, very strict, privacy policies but we don’t have access to these cookies; other than allowing them to be served, we have no role to play in these cookies at all (although we may use statistical information arising from these third party cookies and provided
to us by third parties, to improve the targeting of advertisements to users of the website).
If you would like to disable ‘third party’ cookies generated by advertisers or providers of targeted advertising services, you can turn them off by going to the third party’s website and getting them to generate an opt out cookie that will stop any further cookies being written to your machine.
But opting out of a network/data partner does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the network/data partner from whom you have opted out will no longer deliver adverts tailored to your web preferences and usage patterns.
A lot of the advertisements on the site are served by Google Doubleclick, AppNexus and Pubmatic as thirdparty vendors. Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users on this site based on their visit to this site and other sites on the Internet.
Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy. Users may opt out of the use of the AppNexus Platform cookie by visiting the AppNexus Platform policy. Users may opt out of the use of the Pubmatic Platform cookie by visiting the Pubmatic policy.
Stopping cookies
Most browsers allow you to turn off cookies. If you want to know how to do this please look at the ‘help’ menu on your browser. However, switching off cookies may restrict your use of the website and/or delay or affect the way in which the website operates.
For more information
The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is the trade association for online and mobile advertising. It promotes growth and best practice for advertisers, agencies and media owners. You can find out more at: https://www.iabuk.net/
The Information Commissioner’s Office is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals. You can find out more at: https://www.ico.gov.uk