How we use cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. If you decline cookies it is likely that parts of the website will not function correctly, for example shopping carts will not work and in order to use these services you must accept cookies. You are able to decline non-functional third party cookies such as tracking and your visit to the website will be the same as if you had accepted them.
The cookies in use on this website are:
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you choose to accept cookies:
Three cookies for google analytics tracking, the first is a persistant cookie (remains in your browser when you leave the website), the second two are session cookies (are deleted a short time after you leave the website):
- _ga : Used to distinguish users. Stores the ClientID, a unique and randomly generated string, so that the user can be associated on future visits, the date of first visit and version of GA cookie. Expires in 2 years.
- _gat : Throttles the number of requests a user does to Google Analytics’s servers. Expires in 1 minute.
- _gt : Stores the ClientID. Expires in 24 hours.
Any personally identifiable information such as your IP address, is masked (anonymized) before it is sent to google.
There is also a cookie to store your cookie preferences for one month once you accept or opt-out of the tracking cookies:
- cookie_notice_accepted : stores your cookie preference for tracking cookies, stays in your browser for one month before expiring, this means you won’t need to click the choice button on subsequent visits to the website.