Scope
This Cookie Policy applies when you visit or use websites and public or customer digital experiences we operate under the brands above (including exhibitor or partner portal surfaces that use the same platform tooling where those sites present these notices), unless a page or product presents a more specific notice for that service alone.
Not every brand property uses the same tags. Where a technology is limited to particular properties (for example Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager on ClimbUK properties), we say so. Edge security, session and consent technologies apply more broadly wherever those platform features are active.
What Cookies and Similar Technologies Are
Cookies are small bits of text sent by our servers or those of technology providers to your computer or device when you access our services. They are stored in your browser and later sent back so that we can provide contextual content. Without some cookies, using the web would be a more frustrating experience. We use them to support your activities on our website - for example your session (so you do not have to log in again) or your shopping cart.
Cookies are also used to help us understand preferences based on previous or current activity on our website (the pages you have visited), your language and country, which enables us to provide improved services. We also use cookies and similar technologies to help us compile aggregate and product-level data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.
Similar technologies include local storage, session storage, pixels, tags, software development kits, and scripts that read or write information on your browser or device. Session cookies usually last for a browsing session. Persistent cookies can remain for a period set by us or by a third party. First-party cookies are set by the site you are visiting. Third-party cookies are set by another domain (for example an analytics or advertising provider).
Explanation of Key Terms
To help you understand how cookies work and how they affect your experience on our website, we group them by purpose such as Necessary, Functional, Analytics, Performance and Advertisement. Each category supports your interaction with our services in a different way, whether keeping your session secure, remembering preferences, improving the site, or measuring and delivering advertising. We also explain several terms used in marketing and analytics so you can make informed choices. Those explanations describe how modern advertising and analytics tools operate in general; they do not mean every tool is running on every page at every visit.
Our on-site Cookie Preferences control maps these purposes to two choices:
| On-site control | Policy categories |
|---|---|
| Essential only | Necessary cookies, and Functional cookies that are required for basic usability of the service you request |
| Essential and optional | All Essential technologies plus Analytics, Performance, Advertisement and any temporary Uncategorised optional technologies |
Where PECR requires consent for non-essential storage or access, optional technologies (including product analytics, session replay, marketing and advertising tags, and affiliate attribution cookies) operate only after you accept optional cookies. You may withdraw or change that choice at any time using Cookie Preferences.
Retargeting
Retargeting is a digital advertising strategy that allows us to re-engage users who have previously interacted with our website. This may include visitors who browsed certain pages, added items to their cart, or showed interest in specific services. By using audience data collected during those interactions, advertising platforms can serve tailored ads to those users across other websites or platforms they visit. The goal is to remind them of their interest and encourage them to return or complete an action, such as making a purchase or booking a service. Retargeting focuses on users who have already demonstrated intent or engagement, which can make the advertising more relevant and timely.
Customer Match
Customer Match is a tool offered by advertising platforms such as Google and Meta that enables us to upload lists of existing customers (for example email addresses or phone numbers, appropriately hashed or protected according to the platform’s rules) and target them with ads. It is a form of reconnection that uses known customer data rather than only website behaviour. For example, if you have signed up for a newsletter or made a purchase, we may include you in a Customer Match style list to show relevant updates or offers, where law allows. This method aims to reach people who already have a relationship with us.
Lookalike Audiences (LAL)
Lookalike Audiences (often abbreviated LAL) expand reach by finding new users who resemble existing customers. Advertising platforms use their own data intelligence based on behaviours, interests and demographics to identify people who are similar to those in Customer Match or seed lists. We do not see the platform’s underlying proprietary data points. Platforms such as Google and Meta analyse that data to build audiences statistically more likely to be interested in our services.
Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking measures the effectiveness of digital marketing by recording when a user completes a specific action on a website. Those actions (conversions) can include making a purchase, submitting a form, signing up for a newsletter, or other goals that reflect engagement or business value. Cookies and similar tags used for conversion tracking help link user behaviour to marketing campaigns so we can understand which ads, keywords or channels drive results and can optimise campaigns accordingly.
Session Replay
Session replay is a behavioural analytics technique that records and visually reconstructs a user’s journey through a website. It can capture interactions such as mouse movements, clicks, scrolls and page navigation, allowing staff to replay sessions when diagnosing usability issues, understanding intent and improving experience. Climb Group uses session replay through PostHog where that capability is enabled (not Microsoft Clarity or equivalent heatmap products unless we list them later). Session replay may capture behavioural patterns. We apply practical minimisation where configuration allows. Do not enter passwords or unnecessary special category personal data into non-secure free-text fields.
Necessary Cookies (Essential)
These cookies are critical for the basic operation of our website. They enable core functions such as secure login, session management, and access to protected areas. Without them, services such as shopping carts, file uploads and account authentication would not function properly. For example, session_id helps maintain your session as you navigate between pages. These cookies cannot be disabled via our optional cookie controls, because they are required for the website to work.
Functional Cookies (Essential)
Functional cookies allow the website to remember your preferences and settings, such as your chosen language, region or display options, and to record the cookie preference choice itself. They support a consistent and usable experience across visits. For instance, frontend_lang stores your language selection. These are treated under our Essential control because they are needed for the service you request and for PECR-compatible storage of consent choices. Disabling them via browser blocklists may degrade the experience.
Analytics Cookies (Optional)
Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website. They collect data such as page views, time spent on site, navigation patterns and product-usage events. This information allows us to improve site performance, identify usability issues and enhance user experience. Tools such as Google Analytics and PostHog use these cookies and similar storage. These cookies are optional. Refusing them does not stop core site functionality, though we will have less data with which to improve the service.
Performance Cookies (Optional)
Performance cookies are used to monitor and optimise the speed, responsiveness and reliability of our website and applications. They help us detect technical issues, measure load behaviour and understand how pages behave across devices and browsers. Optional product analytics that primarily serve reliability and quality (including certain diagnostic events) may fall under this purpose even though the same provider also offers analytics. You may refuse them without losing basic page delivery, but we may be less able to diagnose defects affecting visitors.
Advertisement Cookies (Optional)
Advertisement cookies are used to deliver more relevant ads and measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. They may be set by us or by third-party platforms such as Google, Meta, LinkedIn or Microsoft Advertising (Bing), including when tags are loaded through Google Tag Manager. These cookies can support features such as retargeting, Customer Match and lookalike audiences. You can also use industry opt-out tools such as https://optout.networkadvertising.org/ where available. These cookies are optional and do not prevent basic browsing if disabled, though advertising you see elsewhere may be less relevant and we may be less able to measure campaign success.
Uncategorised Cookies (Optional)
Uncategorised cookies are those not yet assigned to one of the categories above. They may be new cookies introduced by third-party services or internal tools still under review. Until classified, we treat them as optional. We monitor and update classifications for transparency. Unclassified optional technologies should not run until optional cookies are accepted where PECR requires consent.
How We Seek and Record Choices
On our websites the cookie bar lets you accept essential cookies only, or essential and optional cookies together. Our platform stores that choice in a first-party cookie named website_cookies_bar (JSON indicating whether optional cookies are accepted). You can open Cookie Preferences again from the website controls we provide (commonly via the footer or copyright area), or by clearing that cookie so the prompt reappears.
Browser settings let you block or delete cookies more broadly. Blocking essential cookies may prevent login, checkout, portals or secure forms from working. Guidance for common browsers is published by the browser vendor (for example Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge support pages).
We do not currently treat industry “Do Not Track” signals as a consent mechanism, because there is no single agreed technical standard for those signals across browsers and publishers.
Necessary Cookies (Essential)
| Cookie or pattern | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| session_id | About 7 days | Maintains the current session for login, forms, security continuity and website operation |
| website_cookies_bar | Prolonged after choice | Stores whether you accepted optional cookies |
| Cart / checkout session cookies (names may vary) | Session or short-lived | Basket and checkout continuity for tickets and product purchases |
| __cf_bm and related Cloudflare security cookies | Often about 30 minutes for __cf_bm | Bot management and abuse protection where Cloudflare edge services apply |
| Payment provider cookies (Stripe / PayPal or successors) when you use checkout | Provider-defined | Complete the payment and related fraud checks for a transaction you initiate |
| Cloudflare Turnstile or Google reCAPTCHA related storage (only when bot challenges are enabled on a form) | Provider-defined; often short-lived | Distinguish humans from automated abuse on forms |
Functional Cookies (Essential)
| Cookie or pattern | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| frontend_lang | About 1 year | Stores the interface language for the visitor |
| tz | Session | Stores the timezone used for displaying times |
Analytics Cookies (Optional)
| Cookie or pattern | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ph_phc_*_posthog | About 1 year | PostHog product analytics identifier and related analytics state for the website project (European host configuration). Used for page views, product events and journey analysis |
| _ga, _ga_* | About 1 year 1 month | Google Analytics 4 visitor and measurement identifiers (ClimbUK brand properties and related surfaces that load GA4) |
| _gid | About 1 day | Google Analytics short-lived visit segregation |
| _gat / gtag rate cookies | About 1 minute | Google Analytics request throttling where used |
PostHog may also use local or session storage managed by its SDK. Where session replay is enabled for product improvement, the same optional consent covers that use (see Session Replay under Key Terms). Server-side analytics or error signals that never store data on your device are not browser cookies; they are covered in the Privacy Policy.
Performance Cookies (Optional)
| Cookie or pattern | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PostHog diagnostic and reliability events using the same ph_phc_*_posthog project storage | About 1 year | Helps detect technical issues, client-side exceptions and quality problems when optional analytics are accepted |
| Other performance marks set by measurement tools after optional consent | Tool-defined | Measure load and reliability characteristics where configured |
Advertisement Cookies (Optional)
Advertising and measurement tags may load after optional consent on properties that use Google Tag Manager, Google Ads conversion tags, Meta (Facebook) pixel or Conversions API browser components, LinkedIn Insight Tag or ads tags, and Microsoft Advertising (Bing) UET tags. Exact cookie names can change as platforms update; common examples include:
| Cookie or pattern | Typical provider | Duration (indicative) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | About 3 months | Google conversion linker / ad efficiency measurement often set via Tag Manager or Ads tags | |
| _gcl_* / IDE / other Google Ads cookies | Varies | Advertising and conversion measurement | |
| Meta (Facebook) cookies such as _fbp, _fbc | Meta | About 3 months (typical for _fbp) | Meta pixel / advertising measurement where the Meta tag is present |
| LinkedIn cookies such as bcookie, lidc, li_gc, UserMatchHistory | From about 1 day up to about 1 year depending on cookie | LinkedIn Insight / advertising and consent or routing cookies where LinkedIn tags are present | |
| Microsoft / Bing cookies such as MUID, MR, SRM_B, ANONCHK | Microsoft Advertising | From minutes up to about 1 year 24 days | Advertising measurement and browser identification for Microsoft advertising where UET or related tags are present |
Google Tag Manager itself is a container. On ClimbUK properties (and any other site that loads a Tag Manager container or measurement ID of the form GTM-* or G-*), the container may fire the analytics and advertising tags configured for that environment after optional consent. Investor Ladder or other brands may share measurement configuration. Because container contents can change without an HTML redeploy of every page, treat Tag Manager-driven advertising cookies as part of the optional Advertisement set whenever those tags are active.
Industry opt-out tools (where available): https://optout.networkadvertising.org/
Affiliate Attribution (Optional)
| Cookie or pattern | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| affkey_* | Attribution window in our commercial Terms (currently thirty calendar days unless a commission schedule states otherwise) | Records referral context when you arrive via an affiliate link so commission can be attributed |
Affiliate cookies are commercial attribution technologies, not required to view public pages. If optional cookies are refused, we may be unable to attribute that visit to an affiliate, as noted in our Terms of Service.
Optional Content Embeds
Some pages load third-party media that is useful but not required for every visit, for example Google Maps or video players. Those providers may set their own cookies when the embed loads. Our platform can delay certain third-party script loads until optional cookies are accepted, then restore embeds. If you refuse optional cookies, non-essential embeds may remain blocked or show a placeholder.
Technologies Removed or Not Present as First-Party Site Scripts
The following are not currently deployed as sitewide first-party scripts in our website configuration (they may appear only in historic Cookie Policy page text until those pages are republished from this document):
| Technology | Status |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Clarity | Not present as a site analytics script in current website views or head code |
| HubSpot marketing tracking cookies (__hstc, hubspotutk and related) | Not present as frontend marketing scripts (historical CRM import tooling is separate and not a visitor cookie) |
| Calendly booking widgets | Not present as live embeds in current website views |
If advertising tags for Meta, LinkedIn or Microsoft Advertising are active, they are expected primarily via Tag Manager or ad platform embeds after optional consent, not as permanent HTML in every page head. If we reintroduce Clarity, HubSpot tracking, Calendly or similar tools, we will update this Cookie Policy.
International Transfers and Providers
Cookies and tags may send data to providers outside the United Kingdom. PostHog project traffic is directed to European hosts where configured as such. Google, Meta, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Cloudflare, Stripe, PayPal and other providers process data under their own terms and transfer mechanisms. Safeguards and controller contact routes appear in the Privacy Policy.
Managing Preferences and Rights
- Use Cookie Preferences on the relevant website to accept essential only or essential and optional cookies, or to revisit that choice.
- Use browser controls to block or delete cookies.
- For personal data rights under UK GDPR (access, erasure, objection and related rights), use the processes in the Privacy Policy and contact [email protected].
- You may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office in the United Kingdom (ico.org.uk) if you are unhappy with how we handle PECR or data protection matters.
Withdrawing optional consent does not undo processing already lawfully completed while consent was in force, and essential technologies may continue.
Incomplete Inventory and Changes
Third-party libraries and Tag Manager containers can introduce or rename cookies without us rewriting every landing page. Edge services can set security cookies only on certain routes or geographies. Project tokens and measurement IDs can rotate. This Policy describes the intentional stack as at the version date. It is not a warranty that no other technical name will ever appear in developer tools.
We will update this Cookie Policy when we make material changes to cookies or similar technologies. The version and effective date appear at the top. Continued use of the websites after a revised Policy is posted constitutes notice of the updated description for PECR transparency purposes, without limiting any consent requirement for new optional storage.
Related Documents
- Privacy Policy (controller identity, lawful bases, retention, international transfers, analytics and AI).
- Terms of Service (including affiliate attribution and platform use).
- Product schedules that may apply to particular services do not replace this Cookie Policy for website storage.
Version History
| Version | Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | August 2026 | Full rewrite against multi-site platform configuration; controller identity aligned to Privacy Policy 3.1. |
Contact for privacy queries linked to this Cookie Policy: [email protected]
General enquiries: [email protected]
The Investor Ladder Limited - company number 10289755 - Suite 3, Bignell Park Barns, Chesterton, Bicester, OX26 1TD, United Kingdom