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Marks & Spencer has reported that the recent cyber attack has compromised some personal customer information, although it reassured that no usable payment details or passwords were taken. The retailer has engaged cybersecurity experts and reported the incident to relevant authorities, including the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is collaborating with the National Cyber Security Centre. Customers have been advised to reset their passwords for added security. M&S is continuing to experience shortages of fresh produce, bakery items, and dairy products, with shoppers reporting gaps in stock and issues with payment systems. Online delivery slots have been unavailable since 25 April. An M&S spokeswoman said that staff are "working around the clock to get things back to normal for our customers as quickly as possible." However, the company has not provided a timeline for when shelves will be fully restocked.

 

The Daily Telegraph

The Guardian

The Independent

The Sun

Homebuyers are advised to commission climate change surveys due to increasing risks from extreme weather. Updated Law Society guidance highlights that climate change is impacting properties and the environment, with risks including flooding, heat stress, and rising sea levels. The society cautions solicitors about potential negligence claims if they fail to provide clear advice, saying that they "aren't qualified to advise on the physical risks of climate change." Clients should be informed about transition risks from new laws aimed at mitigating climate change, which may affect property maintenance costs and usage. The Law Society also noted that property owners with "riparian obligations" could face liability for flood damage if they neglect proper risk management.

 

The Times

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to simplify the UK's insurance regulations to enhance competitiveness and reduce costs for firms. The regulator plans to eliminate "outdated or duplicated" requirements, allowing companies greater flexibility in product reviews and training requirements. Matt Brewis, director of insurance at the FCA, said: "We are stripping back our insurance rule book by removing ineffective, outdated or duplicated regulation." The proposed changes aim to support lower costs and wider access for businesses and consumers while maintaining essential protections for smaller customers. The FCA is also looking to define large commercial insurance customers who should not be subject to its conduct rules. Feedback on these proposals is invited by July 2, 2025.

 

Financial Times

London Evening Standard

Thames Water's chairman, Sir Adrian Montague, has issued an apology to customers, acknowledging the company's shortcomings and the "real hardship" caused by pollution and supply interruptions. He told MPs on Tuesday: "We know we are letting customers down," as he defended recent bonuses for executives, claiming they are necessary to attract talent in a competitive market. The company, which supplies 16m households, is grappling with £19bn in debt and has recently secured a high-cost loan of up to £3bn to avoid collapse. Montague described the financial situation as "hair-raising," and revealed that the company had only five weeks of liquidity at one point. Despite the challenges, he insisted: "It's not a failing company. It's a company in recovery." The future remains uncertain as Thames Water explores potential investment from KKR, with the possibility of falling into public ownership if negotiations fail.

 

Daily Mail

Huw Pill, Chief Economist at the Bank of England, has said interest rates may need to remain elevated longer than anticipated due to persistent inflation. Pill said that inflation could remain "too high for the BoE's 2% target," suggesting that "the response of monetary policy . . . needs to be somewhat more aggressive or more persistent."

 

Reuters

Co-op stores across the UK are experiencing significant stock shortages following a cyber attack that compromised parts of its ordering systems. The retailer has prioritised deliveries to isolated areas, but many supermarkets are facing depleted availability of goods, particularly fresh produce. Mark Cox, chief executive of Co-op in the Channel Islands, said: "We are actively securing alternative supplies to keep operations running as smoothly as possible." The attack has also affected other retailers like Nisa and Costcutter, which rely on Co-op's wholesale arm. The National Cyber Security Centre and the National Crime Agency are currently investigating the incident, which is being attributed to the Scattered Spider hacker group.

 

The Times

According to the UK Cyber Insurance Claims Trend Report 2024 by Marsh, UK cyber insurance claims decreased by 20% from 2023 to 2024, although they remain about one third higher than the previous three years. Holly Waszak, UK head of cyber claims advocacy at Marsh, stated, “There is clear evidence that increasing cybersecurity maturity is having a positive impact on claims activity.” Despite the decline, Q3 2024 recorded the second highest claims activity since 2020, largely due to a global outage from a CrowdStrike software update. Extortion, including ransomware, was the leading cause of claims, making up 28% of losses. Ransomware claims specifically fell by 31% due to increased law enforcement and stricter sanctions, yet they are still nearly double pre-2023 levels. Helen Nuttall, UK head of cyber incident management at Marsh, highlighted the ongoing threat from cyber attackers exploiting various vulnerabilities.

 

Insurance Times

Spain’s National Cybersecurity Institute (Incibe) is seeking information from small electricity generators about their cyberdefences as investigators investigating last month’s blackout seek to determine whether they were a weak link.

 

Financial Times

Fidelity's trading platforms experienced significant login issues on Monday morning, preventing users from accessing their accounts just as US stock markets began to rally following positive news on US-China trade talks. Thousands of users reported difficulties, leading to frustration as the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose over 2.5%. In response, Fidelity acknowledged the problems on Reddit, saying: "We are working urgently on resolving the issues," while declining to provide further comments.

 

Reuters

British Airways CEO Sean Doyle says “game-changing” AI technology has helped significantly cut cancellations and delays, although flights delayed more than an hour still exceed pre-pandemic numbers, according to FT analysis.

 

Financial Times

Data reveals that 1.17m people in the UK are currently on zero-hours contracts, marking a 12% increase over the past year, despite Labour's commitment to abolish these "exploitative" arrangements. Rebecca Florisson, an analyst at the Work Foundation, said: "The [Employment Rights] law is likely to be passed later this year, and we had expected to see the start of a long-term decline of zero-hour contracts in the UK." However, the opposite trend has emerged, with many workers trapped in unstable jobs, often trading security for flexibility. The Employment Rights Bill aims to ban zero-hours contracts without work offers and establish guaranteed hours based on a twelve-week period. Yet implementation is not expected until late 2026, leaving many workers in precarious positions.

 

The Independent UK

Workers at Ford's plants in Cologne, Germany, are set to strike today in response to planned job cuts affecting the company's European operations. Ford announced in November that it would reduce its workforce by approximately 14% due to declining demand for electric vehicles and insufficient government support for the transition. The strike follows a vote by workers favouring industrial action, as labour representatives urge management to explore alternative restructuring measures.

 

Reuters

Microsoft is facing a class action claim alleging it has overcharged for software licences since 2015. Barrister Alexander Wolfson has initiated the claim, which could impact millions of UK consumers, businesses, and public bodies who purchased licences for products including Microsoft Office and Windows. The lawsuit accuses Microsoft of abusing its market dominance and imposing restrictive licensing practices that inflated prices and stifled competition. A separate £1bn claim regarding higher licensing fees for users of rival cloud platforms has also been filed.

 

London Evening Standard

FS Group chief executive Stefano Donnarumma is urging European train operators to co-operate and create a “common project” to provide faster and more frequent services between the continent’s biggest cities. 

 

Financial Times

The world's first commercial-scale e-methanol plant has commenced operations in Denmark. The new plant, which is in Kasso in southern Denmark, cost an estimated €150m ($167m) and will produce 42,000 metric tons, or 53 million litres, of e-methanol annually, according to its joint owners Denmark's European Energy and Japan's Mitsui. Shipping giant Maersk is a customer and will buy part of the production as a low-emission fuel for its fleet of container ships. Annual production at the plant is enough to power one large 16,000 container vessel sailing between Asia and Europe. "Production from Kasso . . . is of course just a literal drop in the ocean, so we need to scale up and we need to bring costs down," observed Emil Vikjar-Andresen, head of European Energy's Danish Power-to-X team.

 

Reuters