Cookie and Interest-based Advertising Policy

This policy outlines what cookies and similar tracking technologies our websites use, how we use them and information on how to opt-out of these cookies if you wish to do so.

What are cookies?

Cookies and similar tracking technologies, such as tags, scripts and beacons, are small pieces of code (referred to as cookies hereafter) that are stored on a device (computer, mobile phone, tablet etc) and enable a website to “personalise” itself to users by remembering information about the user’s visit to the website. We also use cookies within emails we may send.

Cookies are used to collect information, where available, about your device, your IP address, operating system and browser type and how you have interacted with our websites.

While cookies are used to identify users and devices, they only ever collect non-personal information such as IP addresses, device IDs. If the data cookies collect are ever merged with any other information with which you have provided us, such as email addresses, these are anonymised in such a way that identification to actual people is impossible.


Why do we use them?

Our websites use cookies to:

  • Store any preferences you have made and display content to you in a more personalised way
  • Evaluate our websites’ advertising and promotional effectiveness
  • Gain insight into the nature of our audience so we can tailor our content accordingly
  • Provide interest-based advertising on our websites and on other websites which are tailored to your interests and preferences

We have a legitimate interest to use cookies so that we can show you adverts we believe you might be interested in, to control the number of times you see an advert and to measure the effectiveness of a campaign. We advertise on our site and in our newsletters to help keep the content free for our audiences.

We will always make sure our websites contain clear and easy to find information about our cookies.


What types of cookies do we use?

  • Per-session cookies – We only use these while you are visiting our website and they are deleted when you leave. They remember you as you move between pages, for example recording the items you add to an online shopping basket. They also help maintain security.
  • Persistent cookies – These cookies stay on your computer until they expire or are deleted. We set automatic deletion dates so that we don’t keep your information for longer than we need to.
  • First and third-party cookies – Whether a cookie is ‘first’ or ‘third’ party refers to the website or domain placing the cookie. First party cookies in basic terms are cookies set by a website visited by the user – the website displayed in the URL window. Third-party cookies are cookies that are set by a domain other than the one being visited by the user. If a user visits a website and a separate company sets a cookie through that website this would be a third-party cookie.

Opting out of cookies

We provide you with choice over the use of cookies as described in this policy.

Please note that our websites may not work correctly if you change certain preferences, such as disabling all cookies.

Please also note that after applying these settings, you will continue to receive advertising, although it may not be tailored to your likely interests using information collected from cookies and similar technologies on your device.

First Party Cookies. If you’d rather we didn’t use cookies when you visit us, click here for information on how to configure your browser settings to reject cookies. Please note, disabling these types of cookies won’t turn off advertising on our websites and the advertising you see may be less relevant to you.

Third-Party Cookies. If you would like to opt-out of third-party cookies, here are some options:

  • If you would like to opt-out of receiving personalised ads from third-party advertisers and ad networks who are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), or who follow the Digital Advertising Alliance’s (DAA) Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising, you can by visiting the opt-out pages on the NAI website and DAA website or click here to opt-out.
  • Google provides a suite of tools to control its cookies:
    • Google Analytics, which is a tool used to track and report website traffic, provides an out-out browser add-on that can be downloaded here.
    • Google Safety Centre has a tool where you can control the ads you see on Google and control the data used for serving ads to you. It can be found here.
  • If you wish to block other cookies, including those being served by companies that are not part of the NAI or the DAA you can use the browser-level cookie controls described below.

Browser-level cookie controls

Most browsers allow you to manage cookie settings. These settings can usually be found in the ‘Settings’, ‘Options’ or ‘Preferences’ menu of your browser. The links below are provided to help you find the settings for some common browsers.