Cookie Policy
What Are Cookies
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work or work more efficiently, and to provide information to website operators. Cookies may be set by the website you are visiting (first-party cookies) or by third-party services that the website uses (third-party cookies).
Similar technologies — including pixel tags, web beacons, and local storage — may operate in a comparable way and are referred to collectively as "cookies" throughout this policy.
This policy explains which cookies this website sets, why, and how you can manage your preferences. It should be read alongside our Privacy Policy.
How We Use Cookies
We use cookies for the following purposes:
- Strictly necessary — to operate the website and record your cookie preferences;
- Analytics — to understand how visitors use this website, which pages are visited most, and how visitors arrive at the site (via Google Analytics 4);
- Behaviour analytics — to understand how visitors interact with page elements, including scroll depth and click behaviour (via Hotjar);
- CRM and marketing — to associate form submissions with your browsing history for deduplication and contact management purposes, and to track the effectiveness of our communications (via HubSpot).
Google Tag Manager. We use Google Tag Manager (GTM) to deploy and manage tracking scripts on this website. GTM itself does not set cookies or collect personal data. However, the tags it manages — including Google Analytics 4 and HubSpot — do set cookies, as detailed in the table below. GTM fires these tags only when they are loaded in accordance with your consent preferences.
Your Consent
In accordance with the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and UK GDPR, we will not place non-essential cookies on your device without your consent. When you first visit this website, you will be presented with a cookie consent banner through which you may accept or decline non-essential cookies by category.
Strictly necessary cookies do not require consent and are set automatically.
You may withdraw or amend your consent at any time by accessing the cookie settings on this website. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing that took place before withdrawal.
Cookies in Use on This Website
The following table lists the cookies currently set by this website and the third-party services it uses.
Strictly Necessary
These cookies are essential for the website to function and cannot be switched off. They are set in response to actions you take, such as recording your cookie consent preferences.
| Cookie name | Set by | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| cookieconsent_status | ReadyLayer | Records your cookie consent preferences so that you are not shown the consent banner on subsequent visits. | 1 year |
Analytics — Google Analytics 4
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. All information collected is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site and will not be able to monitor its performance.
| Cookie name | Set by | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Google Analytics 4 | Registers a unique identifier used to distinguish users and generate statistical data on how the website is used. | 2 years |
| _ga_[container-id] | Google Analytics 4 | Maintains session state and persists information about how the website is used across multiple pageviews. | 2 years |
| _gid | Google Analytics 4 | Registers a unique identifier used to generate statistical data on how the website is used. Expires after a single day. | 24 hours |
Behaviour Analytics — Hotjar
These cookies are set by Hotjar Ltd and are used to create anonymised session recordings, heatmaps, and interaction reports. They help us understand how visitors navigate and interact with pages. No personally identifiable information is collected through these cookies.
| Cookie name | Set by | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| _hjSessionUser_[id] | Hotjar | Set when a user first lands on a page. Persists the Hotjar User ID, which is unique to that site. Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site is attributed to the same user ID. | 1 year |
| _hjSession_[id] | Hotjar | Holds current session data. Ensures subsequent requests within the session window are attributed to the same session. | 30 minutes |
| _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress | Hotjar | Used to detect the first pageview session of a user. | 30 minutes |
| _hjFirstSeen | Hotjar | Identifies whether this is the first Hotjar session for this user. | Session |
| _hjIncludedInSessionSample_[id] | Hotjar | Set to determine whether the user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's daily session limit. | 2 minutes |
| _hjIncludedInPageviewSample | Hotjar | Set to determine whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. | 30 minutes |
CRM & Marketing — HubSpot
These cookies are set by HubSpot Inc and are used to manage contact records, associate form submissions with a visitor's browsing activity, and measure the effectiveness of communications. They are set when you interact with our forms or newsletter.
| Cookie name | Set by | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| hubspotutk | HubSpot | Tracks a visitor's identity and is passed to HubSpot on form submission. Used to deduplicate contacts in the CRM. | 13 months |
| __hstc | HubSpot | Main tracking cookie. Tracks visitors across sessions, including the number of visits, first visit timestamp, previous session timestamp, and current session timestamp. | 13 months |
| __hssc | HubSpot | Tracks sessions to determine whether HubSpot should increment the session number and timestamps in the __hstc cookie. | 30 minutes |
| __hssrc | HubSpot | Set to determine whether HubSpot should reset the visitor's session cookie when the browser was restarted. | Session |
| __hs_opt_out | HubSpot | Used to record that a visitor has opted out of HubSpot tracking. Set only where the visitor has declined HubSpot cookies. | 13 months |
Managing Your Cookie Preferences
You have several options for managing or disabling cookies:
Cookie consent banner
When you first visit this website you will be presented with a cookie consent banner. You may accept all categories, accept only strictly necessary cookies, or customise your preferences by category. You can change your preferences at any time by accessing cookie settings on this website.
Browser settings
Most web browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies through their settings. The process varies by browser; guidance is available at the following links:
Please note that disabling cookies through your browser may affect the functionality of this and other websites.
Opt-out tools provided by third parties
Each of our third-party analytics and tracking providers offers an opt-out mechanism:
- Google Analytics 4 — You may install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on to prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics.
- Hotjar — You may opt out of Hotjar tracking at hotjar.com/legal/compliance/opt-out.
- HubSpot — You may opt out of HubSpot tracking cookies by visiting HubSpot's privacy page.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time, for example when we introduce new tools or change the services we use. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will be revised accordingly. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
Where changes are material — for example, where we introduce a new category of tracking cookie — we will notify you via the cookie consent banner on your next visit to this website.
Contact
If you have questions about our use of cookies or wish to exercise any rights in relation to the personal data processed through cookies, please contact us:
ReadyLayer Ltd
[REGISTERED ADDRESS]
Email: [PRIVACY EMAIL]
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk.