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M&S BOSS STUART MACHIN RECEIVED A A 39 PER CENT PAY RISE FOR THE YEAR ENDING IN MARCH, JUST WEEKS BEFORE THE STORE WAS HIT BY A CYBER ATTACK 16:58, 02 Jun 2025 Marks and Spencer’s boss

has been revealed to have taken home a massive pay increase over the last financial year, despite the retailer recently being hit by a widely disruptive cyber attack. Stuart Machin, chief

executive of M&S since 2022, has reportedly seen his total pay package soar to £7.1 million after receiving a rise in performance-linked bonuses. This has included a £1.6 million bonus

which he received for M&S’s performance over the last year. Mr Machin received the higher pay deal after leading a major turnaround strategy for the company over the past year which has

seen M&S grow substantially in its clothing and home sales. The M&S boss is therefore revealed as having received a 39 per cent rise in his pay package in March 2025, a month before

the retailer was hit by a critical cyber attack. M&S reported being hit by a “cyber incident” on 22 April with Machin alerting customers to the attack through a statement on social

media. Article continues below The retailer, which runs 565 stores across the UK, has since paused all of its online orders and Sparks loyalty card discounts alongside having faced

significant in-store disruption. In the weeks following the Easter weekend, shoppers have reported seeing empty shelves in stores which M&S have since said resulted from them taking some

systems offline to manage the incident. M&S also revealed that cyber criminals had stolen a range customer data in the attack, which could have included names, email addresses, postal

addresses and dates of births. The attack is understood to have cost the store around £300 million and the impact is expected to endure for "some weeks, or even months", as

revealed by M&S chairman Archie Norman in the retailer's annual report. He added: "I am confident that in a year’s time the cyber incident will prove to have been a bump in the

road along the path to growth, even if it does not feel like that today. "However, coming on top of a very strong trading year it has stretched the sinews of the management team and we

have seen an extraordinary response from our colleagues in the support centre, in our logistics centres and particularly in our stores." While the retailer is understood to have

suffered significant losses following the cyber attack, M&S bosses have confirmed in the store's latest annual report that Mr Machin's fixed salary will increase by 2 per cent

for the new financial year. An M&S spokeswoman said: "CEO pay is decided by the board and reflects performance against stretching pre-set targets. "Almost 90% of Stuart’s pay

is linked to performance of the business and the share price – therefore his total pay for full-year 2025 reflects the strong performance and growth of M&S under his leadership over the

last three years. "Over 75% of Stuart’s pay is made up of long-term and deferred share awards, subject to waiting periods and tied to future share price performance. Article continues

below "This year, our strong performance meant we could make our biggest ever investment in store colleague pay. "Additionally, over 5,000 colleagues, including store managers,

received a bonus. We also returned more value to shareholders with an increased dividend payment."