Cookie Policy

Last updated 13/11/2024
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What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that is stored on a user’s computer or mobile device, when visiting a website. These cookie files are used by websites to do many different jobs such as helping the user navigate the site effectively or storing their preferences.
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How we use cookies

Cookies can provide the ability to attribute marketing leads from across multiple campaigns, ads, and keywords. This gives us an insight on how a visitor arrived at our website, what device is being used, such as a phone, tablet, or desktop, including interactions whilst on our site, such as the option to phone Best Companies. All of these analytics combined allow us to further develop our websites, improve the experience of visitors and measure where our marketing initiatives have been successful.

Website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to determine the popularity of products/services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimisation, fraud/security purposes, and advertising.

Our website uses the types of cookies as detailed below.
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Requesting consent

When visiting our website for the first time, you can choose to ‘Accept additional cookies’ or ‘Reject additional cookies’. If you have previously visited this site, cookie preferences may have already been saved on your browser. These preferences will need to be removed before your new choices can take effect. You can edit your choices at any time by clicking on the ‘Cookie Settings’ link on our website and changing your selection.

You will only be asked consent for use of additional cookies, not deemed essential. Additional cookies help us provide our users with a better website experience by enabling us to monitor which pages they find useful and which they do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to a user’s computer. It does allow us a way of collecting information we need, to provide functionality and develop our offering.

Data is tracked at visitor level, to understand how the site is used.
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The cookies we use

‘Essential’ – These cookies are deemed essential and are therefore mandatory. Essential cookies make our websites usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. This includes cookies that protect against fraud and those that add a layer of security to our sites, such as to identify trusted web traffic and optimise response times. The website cannot function properly and securely without these cookies therefore they are deemed essential, and we are not required to collect consent.

Additional cookies

‘Preference’ – These cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.

‘Statistics’ – These cookies help us to understand how visitors interact with our sites by collecting and reporting information. This includes information on browser and device types interacting with our web applications. This in part looks to ensure we are developing products inline with what is being used to access our services.

‘Marketing’ –These cookies are used to track visitors across our websites. This includes a counter display for us to know when a site page is being shared via a social platform and how individuals reach our site for example when arriving via a third-party website.
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Cookies set by 3rd parties

Some of our websites contain content from other websites that are not owned or controlled by Best Companies. When viewing video clips on our websites that are hosted by Vimeo or YouTube they set their own cookie rules. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of 3rd parties. We encourage you to read the privacy and cookie notices of each website to understand how they may use your data.

We improve our products and advertising by using third parties such as Google Analytics, Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity which are managed via Google Tag Manager. Additional Cookes are applied with your consent as part of the cookie banner and you may change your preferences at any time within the ‘Cookie Settings’ link on our website.

Third party, Google Analytics, applied with your consent as part of the cookie banner. This software conducts tracking, location and page hits that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of the analysis of data supplied via the Best Companies platform for content enrichment, our marketing activities and lead generation purposes, including Google location API and any necessary notices or consents for the collection and sharing of the data with Google. Please view the Google privacy notice to view any necessary notices or consents for the collection and sharing of the data with Google.

Third party, Hotjar applied with your consent as part of the cookie banner. Requested to understand our users’ needs and to optimize the service and experience. Hotjar is a technology service that helps us better understand our users experience (e.g., how much time they spend on which pages, which links they choose to click, what users do and don’t like, etc.) and this enables us to build and maintain our service with user feedback. Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behaviour and their devices. This includes a device's IP address (processed during your session and stored in a de-identified form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), and the preferred language used to display our website. Hotjar stores this information on our behalf in a pseudonymised user profile. Please view the Hotjar privacy notice for further information.

Third party, Microsoft Clarity, applied with your consent as part of the cookie banner. Clarity is a behaviour analytics tool. This helps us understand how our users are interacting with our website. Clarity helps us to improve our products, services, and the user experience. Microsoft uses cookies to collect data on our user’s behaviour and devices. This may include IP address, browser, device, operating system, and country. Microsoft may use the personal data it collects for any purpose in accordance with the Microsoft Privacy Statement, including to improve Microsoft’s products and services, including reporting and performance analysis; and create user profiles for purposes that include advertising.
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How do I change my cookie settings?

You may edit your choices, by clicking on the ‘Cookie Settings’ link on our website and editing your choice.

Most web browsers allow some control over most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org. In order to stop third parties applying their own preference cookies, you can set your browser to Do Not Track (DNT) from its privacy settings. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

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Privacy Notice

To understand more about how we process personal data in relation to the services we provide. Please view our Privacy Notice at https://www.b.co.uk/privacy-notice.
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Contact

If you have a question or query in relation to this policy, or if you want to contact us regarding your individual rights, you can e-mail or write to us your request to our Data Protection Officer:

E-mail: privacy@b.co.uk

Post: Best Companies Ltd, Hamilton House, Rackery Lane, Llay, Wrexham, UnitedKingdom, LL12 0PB

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