Cookies

This site uses cookies, which are text files containing small amounts of information which are placed by a website within a computer or device through your web browser; the cookie is subsequently sent back to the same website by the browser.

By using the basis of good business website, you are agreeing to our privacy and cookie policies and consent to the use of cookies and similar technologies by us and our carefully selected third-party partners. If you do not agree to such use, please see the 'managing your cookies' section below for details on how to adjust your settings.

We may also provide links to external third-party websites and you may choose to click through to these sites. If you do so, these third-party sites may send cookies to your browser. We do not control the setting of, and accept no liability in connection with, these cookies. Please look at the cookies policies on the respective websites for more information about what they do with cookies and how you manage them.

Why do we use cookies?

Cookies are designed to assist a computer or device to remember something the user has done within that website, e.g. remembering that the user has logged in, or which buttons have been clicked. They may be used by us to provide you with, for example, customised information to make our website more user-friendly. For example, cookies allow us to determine how frequently particular pages are visited and to determine the most popular areas of our website.

There are specific cookies related to knowing a user is logged in or not. These are known as authentication cookies. Authentication cookies are important for the website to know what information to show you (the user), or if it needs you to log in.

Cookies cannot carry viruses or install malware.

Cookie terminology

Session cookies - only last for the duration of your browsing session on the website. Your web browser would normally delete these when you close the browser.
Persistent cookies - these last longer than the browser session e.g if you log into a website and then return to the same website some days later, the website knows who you are and displays a welcome message to you. Persistent cookies enable this to happen.
First-party cookies - these are set by the domain (or sub-domain) in the web browser.
Third-party cookies - these are set by a different domain to the one on the website you are looking at. Third party cookies are used for a variety of reasons.

If you wish to find out more about cookies, you may find this website helpful - www.aboutcookies.org. This link will open in a new window. Home Retail Group is not responsible for the content of this or any other external website.

What cookies do we use?

We are required to provide you with clear and comprehensive information about the cookies we use on the site and to obtain your consent to the use of these cookies.

The list below will be updated as cookies change on our site. Whilst we intend to update this page regularly, there may occasionally be some cookies missing from the list.

_utma is used to identify unique visitors to our sites. The results are sent to our Google Analytics account so that we may see how many unique visitors come to this site over a period of time.
_utmb and _utmc cookies work together to show the duration of your visit. _utmb takes a timestamp of the exact moment when you enter the website, while _utmc takes a timestamp of the exact moment in time when you leave our website. _utmb and _utmc expire after 230 days.
_utmz keeps track of which website you came from, which search engine was used, which link was clicked on, any keyword(s) used and your location, when a website was accessed. This cookie expires after 182 days.
ASP.NET_SessionID is a session cookie which only lasts for the duration of the website. A web browser normally deletes session cookies when it quits.
AddThis: There is an opt-out facility for the AddThis cookie available from http://www.addthis.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=25437).
Atlas Solutions and DoubleClick, which are advertising cookies
Omniture cookies store information about a user’s interaction with a specific website, in a similar way to Google Analytics.
Quantcast is a cookie used by Wordpress.com and is also set by many third-party services such as sharing tools (eg ShareThis).
Weborama.fr is a cookie set when clicking on a link within the website (external link).
.adnxs.com is a cookie set by Admxs.com, which is run by AppNexus, a company that provides technology, data and analytics to help companies buy and sell online display advertising.

Managing your cookies

You have different options to manage the cookies on your computer or device. You can change your browser settings to prevent cookies from being accepted, or, depending on which browser you are using, you might be able to receive an alert when a website is trying to place a cookie on your browser. With most browsers you can allow first-party cookies to be set but refuse to allow third-party cookies.

If you change your cookie preferences, you will still be able to browse around the site but certain functions may not be available.

Your browser’s 'help' menu should tell you how to block cookies or change your cookie settings. How you adjust your browser will depend on the browser you are using.

You can delete cookies stored in your browser by using a function in your browser - 'clearing your cookies'. Whilst this doesn't mean that you won't collect cookies in the future, it gives you freedom to delete your cookies after you have been online.

Clearing cookies on one browser on one device doesn't automatically clear them on another; you need to clear all browsers on all channels independently.