£206 Million Revenue Loss for Co-op Following Cyberattack

UK-based retail chain Co-op said that the cyber attack in April caused a £206 million loss in revenue, as the data security breach led to empty store shelves and compromised customer information.

 

In April 2025, Co-op experienced a significant cyber security incident involving an attempted network intrusion by an unauthorised third party. The retailer took portions of its internal network offline proactively to protect its systems. This caused some disruption to back office operations and call center services, but stores, quick commerce operations, and funeral homes continued to operate as usual.

 

Subsequent forensic investigations revealed that hackers accessed and extracted data from Co-op’s internal systems. The compromised data included personal information of current and past Co-op Group members, such as names and contact details.

 

Importantly, the breach did not include members’ passwords, bank or credit card details, transactions, or information related to products or services.

 

The incident, which was later claimed by hacking group “DragonForce”, caused operational disruptions for about two weeks, affecting payments, restocking, and funerary services. Co-op’s IT team worked diligently to contain the threat, monitor hacker activity, and gradually bring systems back online safely. The company cooperated closely with law enforcement and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre during the investigation.

 

Recently, Co-op disclosed that the cyber attack led to a sales loss of approximately £206 million, which translated into an £80 million hit to its earnings. This earnings impact included around £20 million in one-off, non-underlying costs.

 

In a statement shared with the media, Chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq said, “The cyber attack highlighted many of our strengths.

 

“But more importantly, it also highlighted areas we need to focus on – particularly in our food business. We’ve already started on this journey, refining our member and customer proposition, making structural changes to our business, and setting our Co-op up for long-term success.”