Marks & Spencer cyber attack: M&S agency staff told to stay at home as disruption continues, can you refund

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has ordered around 200 agency staff at its key logistics centre to stay at home, as a major cyber attack against the retailer entered its second week.

The agency workers at the Castle Donington clothing and homewares distribution centre in the East Midlands were told not to report to work due to the ongoing impact on orders. M&S confirmed that while agency staff have been sent home, its own employees at the site continue to work.

Meanwhile, M&S stores remain open and operational, and customers are still able to browse its website and app. Contactless payments in-store, which had initially been affected by the cyber incident, have now been restored. However, the retailer has halted taking orders from its website and app for a fourth consecutive day, and continues to be unable to process click and collect orders and refunds in stores.

The disruption has had a sharp financial impact. Since the problems began, more than £700 million has been wiped off M&S’s stock market valuation. On Monday morning, shares dropped a further 2.2% to 377.3p.

M&S apologised to customers last week for the problems caused by what it described as a major "cyber incident." The company said it had taken steps to secure its network and reported the attack to data protection authorities and the National Cyber Security Centre.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, warned that the incident could significantly hit the retailer’s revenues. “The pause on online orders will be hugely damaging for sales," she said. "Fashion sales are likely to take a big hit particularly as the attack has come during the spell of warm weather when summer ranges would ordinarily be piling up in virtual baskets."

She added: “While other retailers have not been immune to IT breaches, the depth of Marks and Spencer’s problems in resolving the issue are worrying, and it may take some time to win back some more warier shoppers.”