Cookie policy

What cookies are

A cookie is a small file a website asks your browser to store. On your next request the browser sends it back, which is how a site can remember that a form was submitted, that you are signed in, or that you declined analytics.

Some technologies do a similar job without being cookies — local storage, session storage — and where we use those, we treat them under the same categories described here.

Why we use cookies

For three reasons only: to make the site work, to remember choices you have made, and — if you allow it — to understand how the site is used so we can improve it.

Essential cookies

These keep the site functioning and cannot be switched off. Without them forms cannot be submitted safely and sessions cannot be maintained.

• Session cookie — keeps your browsing session together across requests. Expires when you close the browser.
• CSRF token — proves a form submission came from this site and not from an attacker's page. Session length.
• Cookie consent record — remembers your choice so we do not ask again on every page. Stored for up to twelve months.

Functional cookies

These remember preferences that improve your experience but are not required. If you decline them the site still works; it just forgets your preferences between visits.

Analytics cookies

These help us count page views and understand which pages people read and where they stop. They are set only if you accept the analytics category. If you decline, no analytics cookie is set and no analytics script is loaded — not loaded and blocked, but not loaded at all.

Performance cookies

Where used, these measure loading speed and errors so we can find pages that are slow or broken. They are grouped with analytics for consent purposes.

Marketing and advertising cookies

These would measure whether a campaign brought you here. They are set only if you accept the marketing category. If the company runs no paid campaigns, this category can be removed from the banner entirely.

Third-party cookies

Where an analytics or advertising provider is enabled, that provider may set its own cookies under its own policy. Those scripts are loaded only after you accept the matching category. Fonts and other static assets are served from our own domain, so they set no third-party cookies.

How long cookies remain

Session versus persistent

A session cookie is deleted when you close your browser. A persistent cookie stays until it expires or you clear it. Our essential cookies are session cookies apart from the consent record; analytics and marketing cookies, where accepted, are persistent for the period their provider sets.

Cookie management

Browser controls

Every major browser lets you view, block and delete cookies, and offers a private browsing mode that discards them at the end of the session. Blocking all cookies will stop parts of this site — and most sites — from working.

Cookie consent preferences

You can change your choice at any time from the Cookie preferences link in the site footer. It reopens the same panel you saw on your first visit, with each category listed separately. Changing a category takes effect immediately.

Changes to this policy

If we add or remove a cookie, this page changes with it. The review date at the top shows when it last changed.

Contact

Write to us at the address on our contact page and mark your message for the attention of the data protection contact.