M&S to open 12 new stores after issuing cyber attack update
One of the new stores, which will be located in Godalming, will measure 22,000sq ft - making it the largest M&S food hall to date
Marks and Spencer has announced plans to open 12 new food halls in former Homebase locations. Some of the locations M&S is targeting include Abingdon, Cannock, Farnham, Godalming and Northampton.
The new stores in Abingdon and Cannock are expected to open in late 2025 and will measure 18,000sq ft. The rest of the locations will open in mid-2026, with the Godalming store set to measure 22,000sq ft - making it the largest M&S food hall to date.
The new stores will create more than 550 jobs. M&S CEO Stuart Machin said: 'Investing in new and renewed stores is one of our key transformation priorities.
'Securing these highly desirable sites in priority locations will accelerate this strategy, drive further growth in our M&S food business and most importantly give our customers the best possible M&S shopping experience.'
The move is part of M&S' store rotation programme, which aims to increase the number of its food-only sites to 420 by 2028, while reducing the number of its full-line stores to 180.
It comes after Marks and Spencer issued an update following its cyber attack and warned that ongoing disruption could last until July. The supermarket was targeted on Easter weekend but shoppers are still currently unable to order from M&S online.
At the time, the cyber attack impacted contactless payments and click and collect orders, while some shelves in stores were also left empty.
M&S stores are largely back to normal in terms of stock availability, but online orders remain paused around four weeks after they were first halted.
The cyber attack is expected to cost the company around £300million. It has subsequently been revealed that customer data, which could have included names, email addresses, addresses and dates of birth, was taken by the hackers.
It has been reported that the cyber attack is being linked to hacking group Scattered Spider - with some of the hackers believed to be just teenagers.
Paul Foster, head of the National Crime Agency national cyber-crime unit, told the BBC: "We are looking at the group that is publicly known as Scattered Spider, but we've got a range of different hypotheses and we'll follow the evidence to get to the offenders."
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin told reporters that hackers gained access to its IT systems through a third party after 'human error' rather than a weakness in the system.
He said: 'Unable to get into our systems by breaking through our digital defences, the attackers did try another route, resorting to that term social engineering by entering through a third party.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
M&S boss trousered more than £7m last year - before firm was hit crippling cyber attack
Marks & Spencer's boss was paid more than £7million last year – before the firm was hit by a crippling cyber attack. Stuart Machin saw his pay jump to £7.1million in the 12 months to March 29 from £5.1million the previous year. The details, published in the annual report yesterday, came as the High Street stalwart grapples with the fallout from a hack that has left it unable to sell clothes online for more than a month. An M&S spokesman said Machin's pay – which saw his basic salary of £843,000 topped up with bonuses and other awards – 'reflects the strong performance and growth of M&S under his leadership over the last three years'. Machin, 55, and chairman Archie Norman have overseen a dramatic turnaround at M&S. The share price has soared, taking the firm back into the FTSE 100. Profits have hit their highest level for more than 15 years. Machin's salary is set to increase by 2 per cent this year to £866,000. But there are questions over his bonus for the current year after the cyber hack, which the business estimates will cost it £300million. M&S said it is 'reviewing the performance metrics and targets' for its share award plan due to the cyber attack and will disclose these before the end of the year. Shares hit a nine-year high earlier this year, but have plunged by 9 per cent since details of the hack emerged over the Easter bank holiday. Shares yesterday gained 1.6 per cent to 380.3p. Norman said the incident had caused a 'significant' impact which 'will endure for some weeks or even months'. But he added: 'I am confident that in a year's time the cyber incident will prove to have been a bump in the road along the path to growth.' And Machin, who has led the firm since 2022, said: 'There is no change to our strategy and our longer-term plans to reshape M&S for growth and, if anything, the incident allows us to accelerate the pace of change as we draw a line and move on.' Customers' personal data, which is thought to have included names and contact details, was taken by the criminals. And the disruption last month resulted in some empty shelves in shops as well as forcing the retailer to suspend online shopping. Cyber criminals have also targeted the Co-op, Harrods, Christian Dior and Victoria's Secret in recent weeks.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
JPMorgan warns stagflation threatens US stock rally
JPMorgan Chase has warned that the stock market's rally could soon come to an end as the economy is likely to enter a period of stagflation. Analysts for the world's biggest and most powerful bank have warned that stagflation - when prices rise and economic growth slows at the same time - could hit the economy this summer. Economists consider stagflation, last seen in the US in the 1970s, to be worse than a recession. Stocks have whipsawed following President Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff announcements in April, and last month the S&P 500 posted its best results since 2023. However, stagflation would send stocks down, hitting regular Americans' 401(K)s and investments. 'Post the recent bounce, we think softer leg is in store next, which could resemble a bit of a stagflationary episode,' JPMorgan said in a research note on Monday. The ongoing uncertainty of the US's trade relations with its biggest partners will also keep stocks in check, the strategists wrote. The 'current tariffs picture is worse than most thought at the start of the year,' they added. Despite the recent rally the S&P 500 is only up 0.5 percent this year, underperforming European and Asian benchmarks. Last month JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon warned that the threat of stagflation was probably double that of other analysts predictions , and said Americans should prepare. 'There's a chance that (we'll) have stagflation (in the US),' Dimon told Bloomberg. He said that while he was not making a certain prediction, 'we have to be prepared for something like that.' 'Global fiscal deficits are inflationary. I think the remilitarization of the world is inflationary. The restructuring of trade is inflationary,' he said during the TV interview. At the bank's annual investor day earlier in May, Dimon told industry leaders that the chances of stagflation returning are probably twice that of what others have projected. The billionaire also said that markets were showing an 'extraordinary amount of complacency' in the face of the economic threats of Trump's tariffs. Dimon said the full effect of Trump's aggressive trade policies has yet to be felt. Dimon is not alone, with a host of major economists also warning that stagflation could return. 'Directionally, it is stagflation,' Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, warned back in March. 'It's higher inflation and weaker economic growth that is the result of policy - tariff policy and immigration policy.' This is not the first time Dimon has warned that the US economy is in peril in recent months.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
America's biggest bank JPMorgan warns US at risk of a fate more terrifying than a recession
JPMorgan Chase has warned that the stock market's rally could soon come to an end as the economy is likely to enter a period of stagflation. Analysts for the world's biggest and most powerful bank have warned that stagflation - when prices rise and economic growth slows at the same time - could hit the economy this summer. Economists consider stagflation, last seen in the US in the 1970s, to be worse than a recession. Stocks have whipsawed following President Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff announcements in April, and last month the S&P 500 posted its best results since 2023. However, stagflation would send stocks down, hitting regular Americans' 401(K)s and investments. 'Post the recent bounce, we think softer leg is in store next, which could resemble a bit of a stagflationary episode,' JPMorgan said in a research note on Monday. The ongoing uncertainty of the US's trade relations with its biggest partners will also keep stocks in check, the strategists wrote. The 'current tariffs picture is worse than most thought at the start of the year,' they added. Despite the recent rally the S&P 500 is only up 0.5 percent this year, underperforming European and Asian benchmarks. Last month JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon warned that the threat of stagflation was probably double that of other analysts predictions, and said Americans should prepare. 'There's a chance that (we'll) have stagflation (in the US),' Dimon told Bloomberg. He said that while he was not making a certain prediction, 'we have to be prepared for something like that.' 'Global fiscal deficits are inflationary. I think the remilitarization of the world is inflationary. The restructuring of trade is inflationary,' he said during the TV interview. At the bank's annual investor day earlier in May, Dimon told industry leaders that the chances of stagflation returning are probably twice that of what others have projected. The billionaire also said that markets were showing an 'extraordinary amount of complacency' in the face of the economic threats of Trump's tariffs. Dimon said the full effect of Trump's aggressive trade policies has yet to be felt. Dimon previously described President Trump's tariff strategy as 'pretty extreme' Dimon is not alone, with a host of major economists also warning that stagflation could return. 'Directionally, it is stagflation,' Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, warned back in March. 'It's higher inflation and weaker economic growth that is the result of policy - tariff policy and immigration policy.' This is not the first time Dimon has warned that the US economy is in peril in recent months. In April the banker predicted that the economy was likely headed towards a recession. 'Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,' Dimon told investors.
