UK’s M&S sends 200 agency workers home amid cyberattack disruptions

• Published On: 28 April 2025 at 20:50

Marks & Spencer, the UK fashion business, has instructed about 200 agency workers at its Castle Donington distribution centre to stay at home owing to the ongoing impact of a cyberattack.

According to Sky News, the incident has affected operations at the retailer's primary logistics base, illustrating the hurdles it will confront as the situation unfolds.

At M&S' Castle Donington location, agency workers make up about 20% of the total workforce.

Despite the continuous inconveniences created by the cyberattack, the retailer's permanent workers have been urged to continue working as usual.

"There is work for them to do," it stated.

M&S announced last week that it had paused online orders owing to a hack, but has released little specifics about the event.

In a recent statement to investors on Friday, the company indicated that, while online orders are paused, clients may still peruse the product range online, and its locations will stay open to service them.

"We continue to manage the incident proactively and the M&S team - supported by leading experts - is working extremely hard to restore online operations and continue to serve customers well," said the company.

The duration of the disruption to M&S's e-commerce activities is unknown, although retail officials have described the cyberattack as "extensive" and stated that it may take time to fully fix.

M&S's shares fell 2.4% on Monday morning, adding to a steep dip last week as investors responded to the absence of positive news surrounding the incident.

M&S declined to offer any additional comments.