Why Marks and Spencer is spending £140m on digital and technology this year after putting the cyber-crisis of 2025 behind it
Adversity can make you stronger.
Another example of the British ‘keep calm and carry on’ style of Archie Norman, Chair of UK retail institution Marks & Spencer (M&S) at the end of possibly the most turbulent year in the firm’s 142 year history.
It was Easter weekend in 2025 when the retailer was struck down by a massive cyberattack that crippled its online operation for months before normal(ish) service was restored. That attack has taken its toll on the company’s bottom line, amounting to £131 million in costs related to resource augmentation to replace remote outsourced technology teams and corporate advisory costs. Online sales are down 18.4% at fiscal 2026 year end.
It was a year of two halves, says CEO Stuart Machin:
The first half was dominated by operational disruption...In digital and technology (D&T), our priority over the last 12 months has, of course, been recovery, and that was...
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