Our sites use a number of different cookies. Below we explain the cookies we use and why we use them.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small text file that may be placed on your device when you visit our sites. When you next visit our sites the cookie allows us to distinguish you from other users.

There are two broad categories of cookies:

Persistent cookies
Persistent cookies remain on your device until deleted manually or automatically.

Session cookies
Session cookies remain on your device until you close your browser when they are automatically deleted.

Cookies we use and why we use them

Essential cookies
Essential cookies are technical cookies that are required for the operation of our sites. Without essential cookies our sites can't operate properly. Essential cookies include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas.

Performance cookies
Performance cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our sites and to see how visitors move around them. This helps us to improve the way our sites work by enabling us to tailor our sites to the way visitors use them. The information we collect from performance cookies is aggregated which means that we cannot identify you from it.

Experience cookies
Experience cookies allow our sites to remember the choices you make. Our sites use experience cookies to provide you with enhanced and personalised features. For example, we use information collected through what are known as "web-analytic" cookies to compare the choices you make to those of our other customers so that we can learn from those choices. Information collected by experience cookies cannot track your browsing activity when you leave our sites to browse other sites.

Marketing cookies
Marketing cookies record your visits to our sites, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We use this information to make our sites and the advertising displayed on them more relevant to your interests. For example sometimes we use marketing cookies to limit the number of times that you see an advert. Sometimes we share information about your browsing activity, (which we have collected from cookies), with our advertising partners. They may use this information to advertise products, which may interest you, on other sites.

Your right to refuse cookies and what happens if you refuse them

You can refuse cookies by activating the relevant setting on your browser. However, if you do so you may not be able to access all or parts of our sites. If you carry on using our sites and do not change your browser settings we will assume you consent to us using cookies as described above.