Cookie Policy

Published February 2018

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small piece of data that is stored on your computer or mobile device for a predetermined length of time, allowing a specific website to remember choices you have made while on that website. They are also commonly used to protect both the website and visitor from unexpected events, both accidental and malicious.


Cookies broadly fall into 2 categories:

Session cookies are generally used for security reasons and to reallocate server resources once a visitor has left the website. These will expire automatically several hours after the last user-input or page request has been made by the visitor, and/or the visitor's web browser has been fully closed.

Persistent cookies are usually set to last a lot longer than session cookies, and are used to remember visitor preferences for their next visit, and to track page visits for analytics purposes and improving the website for future visitors.
 
Further information on cookies can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/basics/legal/cookies/index_en.htm

How are cookies used on this website?

This website uses 3 different types of cookies:

Server session cookies are used for security and the efficient allocation of website resources, improving website response and load times.

Analytics cookies are used to track specific page visits and to both directly and indirectly improve future website visitors' experiences.

Helper cookies are used to facilitate common visitor interactions such as remembering a previous choice so that it does not need to be remade, sharing webpage content and links on social media or to bookmark a webpage for future reference.

All Cookies used on this website

Name Type Category Expiry Description
_ga Persistent Analytics 2 years This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request  in  a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports.
_gat Persistent Analytics 1 minute This cookie is associated with Google Universal Analytics, according to  documentation  it is used to throttle the request rate.
_gid Persistent Analytics 1 day This cookie is  associated  with Google Universal Analytics. It is used to store and update a unique value for each page visited to improve Analytics report generation.
BIGipServerXxxxx Session Server End of  visitor session This cookie name is associated with the BIG-IP product suite from company F5. Usually associated with managing sessions on load balanced servers, to ensure user requests are routed consistently to the correct server.
PHPSESSID Session Server End of  visitor session This cookie is connected with server resource-allocation and session security.
TS01a0c22a Session Server
End of  visitor session
 
This cookie is connected with server resource-allocation and session security.
 
__atuvc Persistent Helper 1 year (approx) This cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget which is commonly embedded in websites to enable visitors to share content with a range of networking and sharing platforms. It stores an updated page share count.
__atuvs Persistent Helper 1 hour This cookie is associated with the AddThis social sharing widget which is commonly embedded in websites to enable visitors to share content with a range of networking and sharing platforms.
trackshare Persistent Helper 1 month This cookie is used to save visitor preferences regarding the use of analytics and social media cookies on this website.

Managing Cookies

Within your website browser you can choose whether you wish to accept cookies or not. Different browsers make different controls available to you and the links below show the more popular browsers and their respective instructions on how to do this. Generally, your browser will offer you the choice to accept, refuse or delete cookies at all times, or those from providers that website owners use ("third party cookies"), or those from specific websites.
 

Please Note

No personal/sensitive or financial details are stored, retrieved or passed on to third-parties.

Continuing use of this website confirms the visitor's tacit agreement, and acknowledgment of this information.