Cookies and Tracking
Use of cookies
A cookie is a small text file which is placed onto your device when you access our website. We use cookies on this website to:
(a) recognise you whenever you visit this website (this speeds up your access to the website as you do not have to log in each time)
(b) obtain information about your preferences, online movements and use of the internet;
(c) carry out research and statistical analysis to help improve our content, products and services and to help us better understand our customer requirements and interests;
(d) target our marketing and advertising campaigns more effectively by providing interest-based advertisements that are personalised to your interests; and
(e) make your online experience more efficient and enjoyable.
In most cases we will need your clear, freely given, specific and informed consent in order to use cookies on this website. The exception is where the cookie is essential, meaning that it is required to ensure that the website functions properly.
Consent to cookies
We will always ask for your permission to place cookies or other similar technologies on your device when you first visit our website, except where they are essential for us to provide you with a service that you have requested. You can withdraw any consent to the use of cookies or manage any other cookie preferences by using the cookies preference tool on our website. If you do this, please be aware that you may lose some of the functionality of this website.
For further information about cookies and how to disable them please go to the Information Commissioner’s webpage on cookies: (https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies/).
Description of cookies
We use the following cookies and other technologies:
Essential: These cookies are essential to the operation of our website and cannot be switched off.
Analytics: These cookies allow us to have a better understanding of how our website is performing in terms of statistics, engagement level, content relevance and ease of navigation. We use this information to help improve our website’s functionalities and content as well as your browsing experience.
Advertising: These cookies may be set by third parties. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites, based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device and recording your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed.
The table below provides some information on the cookies which we use on our website:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Cookie
Service
Purpose
Expiration
CookieControl
Civic
It stores information about the categories of cookies the site uses and whether visitors have given or withdrawn consent for the use of each category.
3 months
showpopup
Benugo
It allows the website to keep the popup closed while navigating through the site
1 week
_grecaptcha
Google reCAPTCHA
Provides spam protection.
When browser closes
ip2location_redirection_first_visit
IP2Location
Designates the country code that is calculated based on the user’s IP address. Used to determine if user is based in Scotland
1 day
Analytical, Tracking and performance cookies
Cookie
Service
Purpose
Expiration
_gid
Google Analytics
Used to distinguish users.
24 hours
_gat_UA-
Google Analytics
Used to persist session state.
2 years
_ga
Google Analytics
Used to distinguish users.
2 years
Functional Cookies
Cookie
Service
Purpose
Expiration
YSC
YouTube
Registers a unique ID to keep statistics of what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
When browser closes
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
YouTube
Tries to estimate the users’ bandwidth on pages with integrated YouTube videos.
180 days
CONSENT
YouTube
Used to detect if the visitor has accepted the marketing category in the cookie banner.
2 years
Turning off cookies
If you do not want to accept cookies, you can change your browser settings so that cookies are not accepted. If you do this, please be aware that you may lose some of the functionality of this website. For further information about cookies and how to disable them please go to the Information Commissioner’s webpage on cookies.