Hundreds of SPAR stores in across the North of England are battling with operational issues following a “total outage” over the weekend, which forced many shops to shut down or switch to cash-only payments.
SPAR, originally DESPAR, is a Dutch multinational franchise that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. SPAR operates over 13,500 stores in over 48 countries. The retailer has 2,600 locations in the UK.
According to Lawrence Hunt & Co Ltd, which operates 25 branches across Lancashire, the outage has affected tills, credit cards and back office systems across the SPAR network.
A spokesperson of James Hall and Co, a Preston-based food distributor who serves 600 SPAR stores in Lancashire, told local media that the “online attack” affected around 330 SPAR stores in northern England, and “we are working to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.”
The cyber incident is said to have impacted stores’ ability to process card payments meaning that some SPAR shops have been shut down or switched to only cash payments.
"We apologise for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation," the spokesperson said.
SPAR has not yet released an official statement regarding the incident.
UK's national cybersecurity center (NCSC) said it is aware of the situation and is “working with partners to fully understand the incident.”