Restructuring

As UK retailers move deeper into the final quarter of 2025, they do so with both anticipation and unease. The golden quarter, shaped by Black Friday and the Christmas trading season, is already underway and brings with it intense commercial pressure and elevated operational complexity. Beneath this momentum lies a persistent and growing threat. Cybercriminals are actively targeting the sector, exploiting the very systems that drive retail success.

High transaction volumes, intricate supply chains and expanded digital engagement have created an environment that is vulnerable to disruption. Recent attacks on major UK brands have shown how threat actors are repeatedly motivated to cause rapid disruption that deeply affects every layer of the business. For retail leaders, this is a moment that calls for strategic awareness, operational resilience and a continued renewed commitment to defending what matters most. Consumer confidence and brand preservation are key to retail survival.

 

The Business Impact of a Breach 

The consequences of a cyberattack on a retail business are immediate and far-reaching. Revenue loss begins on day one, especially for companies dependent on online orders and automated replenishment systems. Operational disruption can lead to stock outages, manual workarounds and delayed fulfillment, all of which erode customer trust.

Brand damage is often long lasting. In a competitive market, consumers switch quickly when confidence is lost. For luxury brands and platforms that rely heavily on personal data, the recovery curve is even steeper. Many must increase marketing spend post-incident to rebuild trust, which further suppresses margins.

Financial pressure extends beyond the retailer itself. Suppliers face liquidity challenges, and the broader supply chain can suffer from short-term solvency issues. Directors need to be aware of their ongoing duties. Insurance coverage is often tested, and questions arise around adequacy and exclusions. Regulatory exposure adds another layer of complexity, with breaches triggering investigations and potential fines from data protection regulators and jurisdictional supervisors.

 

Understanding the Threat Landscape

Kroll’s 2025 Global Business Sentiment Survey reinforces this picture. Nearly eight in ten global business leaders reported rising cybersecurity and data privacy concerns over the past year. Yet fewer than half have taken meaningful steps to address the risk. In the UK, 75% of respondents said threats have intensified, and 45% identified cybersecurity as the most significant business challenge facing their organizations in the year ahead.

Recent attacks on major UK retailers have exposed the sector’s vulnerability. In late September, Jaguar Land Rover was forced to halt production for nearly six weeks following a ransomware attack, resulting in a 17% drop in retail sales and a 24% fall in wholesale volumes, a stark reminder of how deeply operational disruption can cut into performance. 

Earlier in the year, Harrods confirmed unauthorized access attempts that compromised over 430,000 customer records through a supplier breach, and Co-op reported £206 million in lost revenue and an £80 million profit hit after ransomware actors stole 6.5 million customer records. Marks & Spencer endured a multi-week ecommerce shutdown, reportedly losing £15 million per week and facing widespread operational disruption. These incidents are not isolated; they reflect a growing pattern of targeted campaigns against retail businesses.

Cyber threat actor groups like Scattered Spider and Cl0p have emerged as persistent threats. Scattered Spider, known for its speed and technical sophistication, often operates in coordination with the DragonForce ransomware cartel. Cl0p focuses on exploiting file transfer systems to extract sensitive data and extort victims. Retailers are attractive targets due to the volume of customer data they hold, their reliance on digital infrastructure and the complexity of their supply chains.

Attackers use social engineering to bypass multifactor authentication, disable protective controls and conduct deep reconnaissance of IT environments. Once inside, they extend into cloud systems, deploy ransomware and extract business-critical data. Intelligence sources show that system intrusions across EMEA have nearly doubled, with ransomware present in 44 percent of breaches. Third-party involvement has surged, underscoring the urgency of vendor risk management. The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in its 2025 Annual Review¹ confirms that they have observed a 50% increase in highly significant incidents for the third consecutive year.

The awareness is there. The urgency is growing. However, action remains uneven. For retail leaders, the message is clear: the threat is real, and the time to strengthen defenses is now.

 

Why Stakeholders Should Pay Attention

Cyber risk in retail is not just a technology issue. It is a strategic concern that touches every part of the business. Boards and executive teams must be prepared to stabilize operations quickly and protect liquidity. Governance structures are tested under pressure, and directors’ duties come into sharp focus.

Legal teams play a critical role in coordinating breach notifications, managing vendor liability and navigating regulatory requirements. They must also oversee forensic investigations and ensure documentation meets regulator-grade standards.

Banks and lenders are exposed to covenant risk and must reassess cyber insurance sufficiency. The potential for sector-level contagion is real, especially when common vendors are involved. Private equity firms face portfolio-wide exposure and must evaluate backup maturity, cross-contagion risk and the ability to recover value post-incident.

As the NCSC warns, cyber security can no longer be seen as the domain of technical teams alone. Business leaders must take ownership of their organization’s cyber resilience and treat it as a board-level priority with strategic, legal and financial implications.

 

Building Resilience Before It’s Too Late

With threat activity intensifying, retailers must act decisively. The window for proactive preparation is closing fast. Operational resilience is no longer optional; it is a strategic imperative.

Companies should begin with fast, focused expert-led diagnostics to identify vulnerabilities and prioritize action. Coordination between cyber and operational teams is essential to avoid fragmentation during a crisis. Controls must be redesigned to address an expanding attack surface, and detection capabilities should be strengthened and integrated with up-to-date threat intelligence and emulation exercises.

Identity and access management policies and controls should be reviewed, and least-privilege principles enforced. Endpoint protection must be robust, and cloud services secured in line with best practices. Incident response plans should be tested regularly, ideally using scenarios modeled after real-world attacks like those from Scattered Spider and Cl0p.

 

How Kroll Supports Retail Resilience

Kroll offers integrated support across cyber, financial, governance, and operational domains. Our Cyber and Data Resilience team provides 24/7 monitoring, incident response retainers, and threat intelligence briefings tailored to the retail sector. We help clients strengthen detection capabilities and prepare for emerging threats. We support both large-scale transformation and tactical, targeted capability uplifts within our clients to help mitigate cyber threats.

In the event of an attack, Kroll’s Restructuring professionals deliver immediate financial advice, including cash-flow triage, refinancing options, and insurance claims support. We also offer Interim Management, deploying experienced leaders such as Chief Restructuring Officers and Directors to take control of stressed situations and implement operational and financial restructurings.

Our Business Transformation team works alongside cyber specialists to redesign operating models and improve efficiency across stores, supply chains, and digital channels. This includes scenario modeling to guide decisions around liquidity, lender negotiations, and omni-channel performance, helping retailers stabilize operations and recover with confidence.

 

Source
¹https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/ncsc-annual-review-2025