NEWS
4 ASIAN TRADER 30 MAY 2025
Following a cyber-attack that
severely impacted its opera-
tions, Co-op said it is now in a
“recovery phase”, with it
bringing its systems back
online in a “safe and controlled
manner”.
The incident forced the
convenience retailer to stop
ordering all but essential goods
from suppliers, leading to
empty shelves in many of its
stores.
“There will be improved
stock availability in our Food
stores and online from this
weekend, and we are working
closely with our suppliers to
restock our stores,” a spokes-
person said.
The hack also resulted in
some payment problems, but
Co-op stated that all forms of
payments, including contact-
less and chip and pin, are now
working across its entire store
estate.
But Kam Sanghera, MD at
Select & Save, criticised the
Co-operative Group for
ignoring Nisa and Costcutter in
the aftermath of the cyber-at-
tack.
“To mitigate the impact,
Co-op has prioritised deliveries
to rural and island-based stores,
which has caused shortages in
urban areas,” he claimed.
Co-op finally able to restock
shelves after cyber-attack
Sweet disposable you
he day after tomorrow, disposable vapes will be a
thing of the past – so vape ’em if you got ’em! But is
that really going to be the case? There will soon be
clear legislation on the statute books that forbids the
sale of disposable vapes, but apparently there is some
confusion over a possible loophole that still allows their
importation. Even if that is cleared up, or pulled tight, or
whatever one does with loopholes, the fact is that the
presence of illicit disposables will continue – or perhaps
skyrocket – because they form an extremely popular
part of the full range of illegally manufactured and/or
imported devices.
The difference after June 1 will be that the disposable
vapes for sale will not be in the controlled and regulated
environment of a proper shop, but on the street, out the
back of a van, in a pub or – increasingly – a barber shop
(“Something for the weekend, Sir?”) – that new form of
c-store for the non-law-abiding community. As a result,
they will on aggregate be far more unhealthy, danger-
ous, inflammable, and so on, than those for sale through
legal outlets prior to the new law. Westminster thought
this a better solution than such ideas as vape bins or
deposit schemes which could have reliably collected the
spent e-cigarettes. Oh well. Surely at least the illicit
devices won’t be dropped in parks and on pavements, as
their users are obviously far more responsible than those
who previously bought legal disposables.
We have also heard a loud warning concerning fans of
disposable vapes – the legal ones still on sale for 48
hours, that is – who are already stockpiling them. The
warning is about the instability of the batteries con-
tained within, for apparently, they age like milk after a
certain point, and the risk of spontaneous combustion
increases dramatically. That little pile of disposable
vapes in the cupboard might well reduce the cupboard
(or the building it is in) to a pile of ashes – much like an
EV in an airport carpark. Again, well done Westminster,
you masters of second-order consequences.
In case you think that the world is going to hell in a
handcart, what with all this tariff madness and the
surging flood of ideological laws spilling out of Parlia-
ment to ruin your businesses, make sure not to forget
the war. No, not the one in Ukraine this time, but the
cyber war that appears to have erupted in recent weeks,
and which is focussed on attacking retail companies.
Marks and Spencer was hacked and immobilised, so that
its distribution broke down, and soon after it was
Co-op’s turn to lose data to the black-hats and be left to
deal with empty shelves. Now apparently Dior is the
target. Bira’s CEO Andrew Goodacre in his column in
this issue addresses the emergency in a timely manner
and warns retailers – and yes, that means you – to lose no
time in hardening defences against the onslaught of
data breach attempts. Bira has great advice and resources
for free – do use them.
The UK economy saw a surpris-
ing 0.7% upswing in growth in
the first quarter of 2025, which
has defied gloomy predictions,
but retailers face an imminent
“reality check” as April’s tax,
wage and NI increases begin to
bite, according to the British
Independent Retailers Associa-
tion (Bira).
The latest Ofce for National
Statistics figures released today
show the UK economy expanding
at its fastest pace in twelve
months, outperforming City
analysts’ expectations of 0.6 per
cent growth. While this repre-
sents welcome positive momen-
tum for Britain’s retail sector,
March’s more modest 0.2 per cent
growth signals potentially
challenging times ahead.
“Today’s growth figures ofer a
rare moment of economic
sunshine, but they don’t dispel the
storm clouds gathering over our
high streets,” said Andrew
Goodacre, CEO of Bira. “The full
impact of April’s National
Insurance hikes and persistent
business rate burdens hasn’t yet
materialised in these numbers.”
The unexpected economic
resilience comes despite business
leaders’ earlier warnings that the
Chancellor’s autumn budget,
including £25bn in employer
National Insurance increases,
would risk plunging the economy
into recession.
“Independent retailers are
naturally pleased to see stronger
economic performance, particu-
larly with retail contributing
significantly to this growth.
However, we’re bracing for the
delayed impact of recent cost
increases that threaten to
undermine this progress in the
coming months,” said Mr
Goodacre.
Bira, which represents 6,000
independent retailers across the
UK, also highlighted continued
pressure from Chinese e-commerce
platforms as an ongoing challenge
for British high street retailers
attempting to capitalise on the
current economic strength.
Strongest quarterly performance in a year despite forecasts
Economic growth surges but
‘April reality check’ looms