Marks & Spencer restores third-party brands to website as cyber-attack recovery continues

Marks & Spencer has restored brands such as Adidas, Mamas & Papas and Sweaty Betty to its site, meaning customers can once again buy them online.

M&S has also begun taking gifting and entertainment product orders again, giving customers access to products such as flowers and hampers, and the retailer has improved fulfilment times to five days for standard delivery in England, Scotland and Wales.

M&S began selling online again a fortnight ago, following weeks of disruption in the wake of a cyber-attack over the Easter weekend in April.

At various times payments, click-and-collect and availabilty of some products were affected, but the suspension of ecommerce was the longest lasting and most damaging impact. Altogether, the crime is expected to cost M&S about £300m although that will partly be mitigated by insurance.

When he posted full-year results, Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Machin described the attack as “the most challenging situation we’ve encountered” but said he would use it to double down on investment in technology, “condensing two years of tech transformation into six months”.

M&S was one of a number of retailers recently targeted by cyber-ciminals inluding convenience specialist The Co-op and department store Harrods.