Category: 3. Business

BBC

Cyberattacks feel pretty inescapable at the moment. They’ve always been there but in recent months there have been countless high profile attacks which have potentially huge consequences, including: 

• Kering (parent company of Gucci, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen): ‘Data linked to 7.4 million unique email addresses’ was reportedly stolen. The company confirmed the stolen data did not include any financial information (e.g. card details). However, the data did include ‘total sales’ showing how much people had spent with each brand or in stores, significantly increasing the risk of more sophisticated social engineering attacks.
• The Co-op: The malicious attack back in April (although the actors responsible suggest they were in the systems ‘long before’ being discovered), where 6.5 million customers’ data was stolen, led to empty shelves and problems with digital payments, ultimately costing the business £206 million in lost sales.  
• Jaguar Land Rover: After a cyberattack forced them to suspend production for over a month, at a reported cost of at least £50 million a week, the UK Government has underwritten a £1.5 billion loan guarantee intending to protect not only JLR employees but also their supply chain (some of which supply parts exclusively to JLR).
• Discord: Discord’s third party supplier, which helps verify users’ age, was subject to a cyberattack with bad actors obtaining approximately 70,000 users’ official ID photos (among other information). This is a timely reminder that your security is only one part of the puzzle and attention must also be given to the security of your supply chain. This attack may raise particular concerns given the number of platforms which are now processing this type of data (to bad actors an incredibly valuable commodity) for the first time to comply with requirements of the Online Safety Act. 

However, smaller businesses or even those not ‘in the spotlight’ can’t rest easy in the hope hackers won’t care about them. In fact, they may even be low hanging fruit. For example: 

• A ransomware group gained entry to KNP’s (a 158 year old transport company) systems by simply guessing a single employee’s password. Once in the system they encrypted the company’s data and locked its systems. The company couldn’t afford the ransom (estimated to be as much as £5 million) to get the data back and ultimately entered administration.  
• Threat actors also recently obtained the data of approximately 8,000 nursery children as well as their families and employees of the Kido nursery chain by ‘buying access’ to a staff computer. The hackers initially started posting profiles of children (including pictures, dates of birth, birth place, safeguarding notes, who they live with, and contact details), with threats to release more data. Unsurprisingly, this attack received a lot of negative publicity. The actors subsequently blurred images of each child, as “leadership isn’t happy with the attention that posting full images does” (as confirmed by the hackers to a BBC correspondent) but the threats to continue releasing data remained. Those behind the attack were contacting parents via email and even making ‘threatening’ phone calls saying to one parent “they would post her child’s information online unless she put pressure on Kido to pay a ransom“. The actors have since removed the posts and claim to have deleted the information. There is, however, no way to know for sure this has occurred. Previous instances have seen similar claims where ‘deleted data’ is found to have been retained or even sold. This is another reason why paying a ransom is no guarantee – for example, when the National Crime Agency ‘took down’ a gang of cyber criminals they found lots of data ransomware victims had paid to be deleted. In any event, like any information online, the data posted is now ‘out there’ and anyone may have taken copies. Nevertheless, two 17-year-old boys have now been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation. 

It’s clear that ‘no one is safe’ and those behind these attacks show no signs of slowing down. A representative from the National Crime Agency suggests she has seen incidents double in the last two years to around 35 – 40 per week. Recent research based on a survey of over 200 cybersecurity professionals in the UK whose companies were subject to a ransomware attack between January – March 2025 also shows that the median demand is over £4 million, which could be devastating for small businesses. 

ICO’s Top Tips 

It’s, therefore, unsurprising that the ICO have issued a list of practical steps small businesses should take: 

1. Back up your data 

Data should be regularly backed up, but you also need to check it has worked/is working as intended. Equally, you’ll need to make sure the back up isn’t connected to the live data source to ensure that, if there is malicious activity, it won’t reach the back up.  

If you use an external storage device, don’t forget to (a) keep it somewhere other than your main workplace; (b) encrypt it; and (c) lock it away, if possible. 

2. Use strong passwords and MFA 

If your password is ‘password’, ‘Password1’, ‘Password123’, etc. (you get the jist), it’s probably time to update it!  Always consider strong and unique passwords which would be difficult to guess (e.g. the National Cyber Security Centre recommend picking three random words for passwords). 

Where you have the option, always consider enabling multifactor authentication (MFA). Although it may be inconvenient waiting for your code to be text/emailed, this second layer of security is always a useful measure to implement. 

3. Be aware of your surroundings

One to remember next time you want to do some work on your morning commute. It’s important to exercise caution when working out and about. Whether you’re on the phone or using a screen when people are around, sending a few extra emails is probably not worth the headache of potentially needing to deal with a security incident. 

4. Be wary of suspicious emails

It’s always important to ensure you are cautious of suspicious emails. Sometimes it may just be an odd new request, but things like bad grammar, a need to act urgently, and requests for payment are typical signs something may not be real. It’s also worth checking email addresses carefully, e.g. a capital ‘i’ (I) looks near identical to a lower case L (l).  

However, things like generative AI and spoofing technologies are enabling threat actors to become more sophisticated. A phishing email may not be as implausible as it once was or written with poor English. Equally, it could appear to come from the sender you know (see, for example, where deepfakes were used to convince someone to transfer $25 million on what they believed were the instructions of the CFO).   

5. Install anti-virus and malware protection (and keep it up to date)

Whether in an office or working from home/away, you need to ensure your devices are secure. Anti-virus software is a useful tool to protect against malware which may be sent via phishing attacks. 

6. Protect your device while it’s unattended

Whenever you are temporarily away from your desk, at least lock your screen. If you’re going to be away for longer, make sure your screens are in a secure place. An unlocked and unattended laptop in a cafe is a threat actor’s dream.  

7. Make sure your Wi-Fi is secure

Even if you’re conscious of your surroundings and locked your screen as recommended while in a cafe, if you’re using the public Wi-Fi or an insecure connection you could still be risking personal data. 

Always make sure you are using a secure connection when connecting to the internet, and if you use the cafe’s public network, it’s worth also using a secure virtual private network. 

8. Limit access to those who need it

Not everyone in the business will need access to everything, so there should be access controls to ensure people can only see the data they need to. This also needs to be kept in mind where people leave the business or if they’re absent for a long period, as you’ll need to suspend their ability to access the systems. 

9. Take care when sharing

Showing someone the wrong thing is hardly new, but it still happens. A lot. For example, you may be sharing your screen in a meeting and have tabs or documents which are confidential or include personal data open which can easily be accidentally shown. Equally, make sure notifications are turned off if you’re sharing a screen to avoid someone else sending something to you being seen by others. 

If you’re emailing lots of people which could reveal sensitive information about recipients, consider alternatives to BCC’ing them, such as bulk email or mail merge services. It’s not uncommon for people to CC rather than BCC people, but in certain contexts this could reveal sensitive, if not special category, personal data (see for example, the charity which was fined by the ICO in 2020 when they CC’d 105 members of an HIV advisory board on an email which meant people could be identified). The ICO do also have guidance on sending bulk communications via email. 

10. Don’t keep data for longer than you need it 

Not only does this limit the amount of personal information which is at risk if you are subject to an attack or there is a breach, but it will also free up storage space and is likely cheaper! 

11. Dispose of old IT equipment and records safely 

When someone leaves the business, or they get new equipment, make sure there is no personal data on the devices (whether they are laptops, smartphones, or any device) before they are thrown away. For peace of mind, you may want to consider using deletion software or engaging a specialist to wipe any data. 

Is cybersecurity a priority for your business? 

The ICO is clear that “[m]ost small businesses hold personal information and conduct business digitally, so cyber security must be a priority“. Ian Hulme (Executive Director for Regulatory Supervision at the ICO) also added that “[w]hile cyber attacks can be very sophisticated, we find that many organisations are still neglecting the very foundations of cyber security“. 

Of course, all types of organisations need to ensure their systems are resilient against complex attacks, and they are able to meet their security obligations under data protection law. However, it’s important to get the basics right too (we need to walk before we can run!). 

Equally, no system is infallible and it’s not uncommon, for example, for cyber criminals to simply buy their way in by ‘paying off’ an employee. Things do go wrong, even for small businesses, so it’s important to think about what you will do when things go wrong, before they do. It may also be worthwhile considering obtaining insurance to cover the costs of a cyberattack (although you’ll still need to have a good standard of security in place to ensure you don’t void any such insurance). 

If you’d like to discuss your security obligations or how best to mitigate the chance of and prepare for a cyberattack, or would like training for your organisation, please do reach out to your usual Lewis Silkin contact.

An “exciting milestone” has been reached in the development of a new medical testing centre set to open this year.

All 13 modular units which will make up the building of the community diagnostic centre at the Camborne Redruth Community Hospital have been delivered and connected.

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly said internal work was now underway to complete the fit-out ahead of the facility opening to patients.

Susan Bracefield, chief nursing officer of NHS Cornwall, said: “We are excited to be opening another new community diagnostic centre for Cornwall, as part of our continued investment in delivering more services closer to people’s homes, something we know local people really value.”

She added the centre would mean more patients would benefit from faster diagnosis, shorter waiting times, and improved access to treatment.

Once operational the community diagnostic centre would provide:

• X-rays, MRI and CT scans
• Blood tests (phlebotomy)
• ECGs and respiratory checks
• Endoscopy services

Geoff Searle, chief executive of InHealth, added: “This is an exciting milestone in the South West CDC programme.

“Expanding this model of healthcare in the South West will bring real benefits to local patients, improving health outcomes through greater access, capacity and choice.”

NHS Cornwall said the hospital site already had strong public transport links but would see an additional 22 new parking bays to ensure easy and convenient access for patients and visitors.

• In the past week, Robert Half was recognized by Forbes as one of the World’s Best Employers for 2025, an accolade based on an independent survey of more than 300,000 employees across 50 countries that measures satisfaction, culture, and global reputation.

• This global recognition underscores Robert Half’s continued investment in employee well-being and its reputation as an employer committed to professional and personal growth opportunities.

• We’ll examine how Robert Half’s global employer recognition could shape its investment narrative by highlighting employee-focused strengths and culture.

Trump has pledged to “unleash” American oil and gas and these 22 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit.

To be a shareholder in Robert Half today, you have to believe that its reputation as a top global employer translates into long-term competitive advantages, especially as the biggest short-term catalyst remains a sustained recovery in hiring demand, while persistent pressures on revenue and margin are still the biggest risks. The recent Forbes World’s Best Employers award is a boost for the company’s employer brand, but it is unlikely to materially shift the near-term outlook given ongoing headwinds in the core business.

Among recent announcements, Robert Half continues consistent quarterly dividends, with the most recent payout of US$0.59 per share, reinforcing its focus on rewarding shareholders, even through a period of weak revenue trends. This dividend consistency may offer reassurance for some investors as they weigh the potential impact of new accolades on the company’s fundamental recovery story.

In contrast, investors should be aware of persistent revenue declines and the risk that…

Read the full narrative on Robert Half (it’s free!)

Robert Half’s narrative projects $5.9 billion in revenue and $313.2 million in earnings by 2028. This requires 1.9% annual revenue growth and a $135.1 million increase in earnings from $178.1 million today.

Uncover how Robert Half’s forecasts yield a $41.56 fair value, a 33% upside to its current price.

Five fair value estimates from the Simply Wall St Community range from US$32 to US$49,991.88, reflecting strikingly wide opinions on Robert Half’s potential. While investor confidence varies, the ongoing risk of flat or declining sales continues to be a factor in shaping expectations for the business’s trajectory, consider exploring several viewpoints before drawing your own conclusion.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include RHI.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

• Earlier this week, China formally restricted rare earth element exports and imposed sanctions on certain shipping companies, heightening global trade tensions and disrupting critical mineral flows.

• Energy Fuels stands out with its U.S.-based rare earth assets and capabilities, drawing heightened attention as governments seek to strengthen domestic supply chains and reduce reliance on Chinese exports.

• We’ll examine how Energy Fuels’ role as a U.S. rare earth supplier amid rising U.S.-China tensions could influence its investment outlook.

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To own shares of Energy Fuels, an investor must see value in its ambition to become a leading U.S.-based supplier of rare earth oxides and uranium as Western countries prioritize secure critical mineral supply chains. While China’s new export restrictions have driven short-term interest, the most immediate catalyst for the stock remains execution on rare earth production expansion at White Mesa. The biggest risk is still the company’s heavy reliance on third-party feedstock and uncertainty around advancing its own mining projects; this news does not immediately resolve supply chain challenges.

One recent announcement directly tied to this theme is Energy Fuels’ qualification of high-purity neodymium-praseodymium oxide for use in electric vehicle motors, achieved at its White Mesa Mill. As Western automakers and governments seek alternatives to Chinese materials, achieving this production milestone could support Energy Fuels’ push to gain offtake deals or policy support, both of which are central to unlocking further upside.

By contrast, investors should be aware that Energy Fuels’ rare earth business still faces supply bottlenecks of its own, with no guaranteed feedstock from its early-stage projects and…

Read the full narrative on Energy Fuels (it’s free!)

Energy Fuels’ narrative projects $553.4 million revenue and $237.8 million earnings by 2028. This requires 104.1% yearly revenue growth and a $330.9 million earnings increase from -$93.1 million.

Uncover how Energy Fuels’ forecasts yield a CA$22.35 fair value, a 24% downside to its current price.

Eleven Simply Wall St Community members estimate Energy Fuels’ fair value anywhere from US$2.73 to US$146.07, showing a remarkable breadth of outlooks. Amid these wide-ranging opinions, the company’s success may hinge on resolving rare earth feedstock constraints in light of tighter global trade conditions, so consider all viewpoints before forming your own.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include EFR.TO.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

With autumn now in full swing, shorter days and lower temperatures spell higher energy costs. However, an innovative social enterprise is doing its bit to help by offering people the chance to reduce their electricity bills by as much as 30%.

Energy Local is a non-profit organisation that has created a way for people to benefit from local clean energy by teaming up with a renewable energy project in their area – it might be a wind turbine, solar farm or hydroelectric scheme – to get a better deal.

It enables participating residents to buy renewable electricity at a discounted price.

They form a club, which their local renewable project also joins, and it works by matching up the residents’ energy usage to the locally generated electricity. The club agrees a price residents will pay for the electricity they use when the local renewable energy is being generated.

In Bridport in Dorset, the installation of a wind turbine by the local farmer Peter Bailey in one of his fields allowed an energy club to be set up in 2021. Almost 60 people are signed up to the club, and the connection between local energy generation and usage is already having an impact on how members behave.

“Peter believes wind power of about 11mph produces sufficient power for it to generate. You know on a windy day that it’s generating power,” says Malcolm Drew, a semi-retired engineer and energy club member.

“The website we can access tells us what the turbine is doing – it picks up on wind speed and tells you how windy it is and if it’s a good time to use electricity,” he adds.

Richard Toft, who helped to found the club, says: “We’re all saving. Depending on your personal habits, people save a different proportion – anywhere between a 10% and 25% reduction on your bill.”

There are many more people interested in joining the Bridport club than available spaces but there are hopes that it can set up a solar farm based on a cooperative investment model to expand the project and allow more members to join.

Energy Local was set up by Dr Mary Gillie in 2016 after she witnessed a surprising frustration among people living in Ashton Hayes, Cheshire, who wanted their small village to become carbon neutral.

“They said: ‘Can we all just put solar power on our roofs? How do we then say that we’ve used that power?’” Gillie says.

“But at the time, we couldn’t show when they were using it. It was when smart meters began to be developed that I realised we could do that.”

There are now 36 energy clubs across Great Britain that Energy Local is involved with, stretching from Scotland down to Devon and Dorset. The idea behind them is simple. Thanks to smart meter technology, it is now possible to show how much electricity a household uses every half an hour. Energy Local has developed software that compares that usage with the electricity generated by a local renewable energy scheme such as a wind turbine, hydro project or solar farm.

Gillie and her team have worked with energy companies to negotiate a special tariff arrangement, thereby creating a “hyper-local” market that acknowledges the renewable power being generated in that area.

The price the club members pay for the electricity they use when the local clean energy is being generated is higher than the amount the renewable energy projects would normally get from selling their power to suppliers but lower than the price residents would usually pay via a regular tariff. “It’s a win-win,” Gillie says.

In Brixton, south London, Energy Local has helped unlock the potential of an existing solar project on the roof of a social housing block called Roupell Park. The photovoltaic panels on the building’s roof were installed in 2013 thanks to a community investment initiative organised by the not-for-profit organisation Repowering London.

“Everyone, as investor members, owns a piece of that kit on the roof [in Roupell Park],” says Afsheen Kabir Rashid, the co-founder and chief executive of Repowering London.

“It’s really empowering for local people. But we kept coming back to this point: how can we supply this energy locally? Energy Local has been one of the models that has allowed us to do that.

“It’s a small trial in Brixton – 18 households or so – but they have seen benefits on their energy bills already.”

Repowering London raises money for the solar panels through community shares. It believes that democratising the energy system is the fastest route to decarbonising the sector and making it fairer. “We still have huge fuel poverty in the UK,” Kabir Rashid says. “People are scared about the bills that arrive. People are disconnected from where the energy is coming from. The benefits of the extractive fossil fuel economy do not stay local in people’s pockets. But through community energy, we can bring people closer, make it visible.”

When the sun is weak or there is no wind, the energy club members have to pay a higher tariff – however, part of the aim of Energy Local is to encourage people to change their consumption habits.

Gillie says that as well as trying to support local renewable energy and reduce people’s bills, “we want to manage the electricity network as efficiently as we can … If we can get people to use more power when local generation is running or when fewer people are using it, we can solve both problems.”

Electricity demand is typically greatest between 4pm and 8pm but Energy Local encourages participants to set timers for washing machines and similar devices, and to try to move energy-intensive tasks to the times of day when local clean power generation is running at maximum levels and electricity is at its cheapest.

While the idea of hyper-local energy markets and cooperative renewable power generation may sound like a perfect solution to the energy crisis, Gillie is clear that community energy schemes cannot replace the national grid entirely.

“We need a robust overarching system to ensure the power keeps flowing,” she says. “We do as much as we can locally, but after a point [infrastructure costs] can become too expensive, and that’s where you need things to be handled at a national level.”

Those infrastructure costs, such as repairing and upgrading the cables and equipment that electrify our homes and businesses, are one reason why bills, including standing charges, have just gone up. On 1 October, the average energy price cap for households in Great Britain paying by direct debit increased by £35 to £1,755 for a typical annual dual-fuel bill.

“Our network is changing – we need to invest in it. We should have done this 15 years ago, and we’re playing catchup on a massive scale,” Gillie says.

Given the desire within the industry to wean the grid off gas turbine power stations and lower consumer prices by bringing more renewable power into play, well-integrated local energy generation sites offer a glimpse of what a more efficient, carbon neutral network may look like in the future.

How do Energy Local clubs work, and how do I join one?

• They are designed to solve a problem in the electricity market: renewable energy schemes sell their power to suppliers but people living nearby are buying that electricity back for maybe two or three times that price.

• An Energy Local club is legally a cooperative and is where a group of residents and a local renewable energy project team up to get a better deal for both parties.

• To take part, you need a smart meter installed in your home.

• The club agrees a price people will pay for the electricity they use when renewable energy is being generated locally. So they may want to run their washing machine when they know the local hydro scheme is going full pelt, for example. Sometimes it will be possible to match all the electricity someone uses to locally generated power but at other times they will use more than is available. For the extra electricity, they will be charged at different rates depending on the time of day.

• The club selects a partner energy supplier that sells the extra power that members need when there is not enough local electricity generated. So those taking part will have to change to the supplier selected.

• Energy Local says the savings will vary from household to household but adds: “We estimate you could save about 10% to 30% on your electricity bills.” However, club members still have to pay standing charges.

• The organisation has created an online dashboard to help people manage their energy use. It can provide a forecast of how much power will come from the local renewable energy source each day.

• If you would like to join an Energy Local club, there is a list on the organisation’s website of clubs that are up and running or being set up (some are now full). If there isn’t one in your area but you would like to be notified if one is set up, there is a form on the site where you can register your details. “We have clubs developing in many areas. Please let us know you are interested,” the organisation says.

If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit you can no longer join our Club or pick up a Penguin, as the lunchbox favourites have reduced the amount of cocoa in their recipe so much they are now only “chocolate flavour”.

The two snacks, both made by McVitie’s, changed their recipes earlier this year amid soaring cocoa prices – which have prompted manufacturers to try a number of different tactics to keep prices down.

Club and Penguin can no longer be described as chocolate biscuits as they contain more palm oil and shea oil than cocoa, as first reported by the trade journal The Grocer.

“We made some changes to McVitie’s Penguin and Club earlier this year, where we are using a chocolate flavour coating with cocoa mass, rather than a chocolate coating. Sensory testing with consumers shows the new coatings deliver the same great taste as the originals,” the McVitie’s owner, Pladis, said in a statement.

Club’s classic advertising slogan citing its chocolate content is no longer in use, replaced by: “If you like a lot of biscuit in your break, join our Club.”

The company already had other snacks that can only be described as “chocolate flavour”, including flavours of Mini BN and BN Mini Rolls.

“We’re committed to delivering great-tasting snacks while minimising the impact of rising costs on consumers, adjusting formulations only when necessary,” Pladis said.

Cocoa prices have soared after poor harvests in the key growing regions of Ghana and Ivory Coast over the past three years, amid extreme temperatures and unusual rainfall patterns driven by the climate crisis.

The added cost has prompted manufacturers to use a number of tactics, from making bars and biscuits smaller to reducing cocoa content in an effort to keep the prices paid by shoppers down.

Last year prices more than doubled and went on to hit a record of close to $11 (£8.20) a kilogram in January. However, in recent months they have eased back amid positive news about this year’s harvest and reports of lower demand as manufacturers and shoppers switch to alternatives or reduce consumption.

KitKat White and McVitie’s white digestives can no longer be marketed as “white chocolate” products as they do not contain a minimum of 20% cocoa butter – although these recipes changed before this year.

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The old favourite Wagon Wheel has long been described as “chocolate flavour” as its coating does not meet the level of cocoa to be described as chocolate.

A spokesperson for Nestlé, which makes KitKat, said: “We regularly review our recipes to balance quality, affordability, and sustainability. Like every manufacturer, we’ve seen significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products.

“As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible. To continue to offer shoppers great value, it is sometimes necessary to adjust recipes of some of our products. Retail pricing is at the discretion of individual retailers.

“The ‘coating’ description on KitKat White is accurate and compliant to describe the ingredients used in the recipe. There are currently no planned changes to KitKat product descriptors given existing recipes.”

A man setting up a kitchen showroom using products from a company that has gone into administration said the situation had been handled “terribly” because of a “lack of communication”.

One-hundred-and-five people have been made redundant at Waterline Limited, one of the UK’s largest independent wholesale distributors of kitchens and bathrooms, based in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.

Administrator Alex Cadwallader said the directors had been “forward thinking… proactive and took all the correct steps”.

But kitchen fitter Dean Bridgen said he was left in “panic” after spending around £20,000 on a new showroom in Redruth, Cornwall – using products purchased through Waterline.

He said he had a call from his rep four days before opening Dutchy Kitchens saying there were “difficulties” and it was about to get “turbulent”.

“That was about the only news we got for weeks.

“Everyday you are hoping that the phone rings and it is new information or they’ve been saved.”

He had already placed two customer orders with the company, although not paid, and is sourcing stock through other businesses.

“The first thing we did was panic,” he said.

“We just didn’t have any communication.”

Mr Bridgen said his Waterline rep had been “absolutely fantastic” but did not have any information.

The company was founded in 1947 and had more than 5,000 customers, according to its website.

Mr Cadwallader, from the firm Leonard Curtis, was one of two administrators appointed on 9 October, after which orders have not been fulfilled.

He said the business had seen increased orders during the Covid pandemic, but the number had then decreased.

This was one of a number of pressures including increased interest rates, the cost-of-living crisis and higher national insurance costs, he added.

He said the company had been relying on support from its shareholders which became “no longer viable” and a planned sale fell through.

Mr Cadwallader said, based on current information, he did “anticipate there will be a material return” to all groups of creditors, including staff and suppliers.

He said directors had taken appropriate advice and followed it, but when businesses were struggling it was often not possible to alert clients.

“Openly telling all your customers about the financial position of the business generally leads to it falling away relatively quickly, so it would not be a route directors would be advised to take.”

“[Directors] were forward thinking, they were proactive and took all the correct steps you would expect them to,” he said.

Around 15 staff members were still at work to help implement a “wind down plan”, where stock owned by suppliers is being returned.

• Mercialys SA recently announced that Deputy CEO Elizabeth Blaise will leave her position at the end of 2025, following more than 10 years with the company, while also reaffirming its upgraded 2025 financial guidance and positive operational performance through September.

• The continuation of leadership stability until year-end, alongside confirmed increases in footfall and tenant sales, highlights management’s confidence in Mercialys’ current strategy and outlook.

• With the reaffirmed full-year guidance and reported growth in key operating metrics, we’ll examine how these developments impact Mercialys’ investment narrative.

Trump’s oil boom is here – pipelines are primed to profit. Discover the 22 US stocks riding the wave.

To believe in Mercialys as a shareholder, one needs conviction in the resilience of French shopping centers and the company’s ability to drive earnings despite sector headwinds. The recent announcement about Deputy CEO Elizabeth Blaise’s planned departure at year-end 2025 does not materially affect the most important near-term catalyst, continued operational gains and the execution of retenanting strategies; the main risk remains exposure to regional economic shifts and the evolving retail environment.

Among recent company developments, Mercialys’ reaffirmation of its upgraded 2025 financial guidance stands out. With reported increases in both footfall and tenant sales, management has underscored its short-term confidence in the business, even as leadership transitions are on the horizon, highlighting the operational focus behind earnings stability.

By contrast, investors should be aware that persistent regional demographic changes could…

Read the full narrative on Mercialys (it’s free!)

Mercialys’ narrative projects €206.6 million revenue and €134.6 million earnings by 2028. This requires 5.4% yearly revenue growth and a €103.2 million increase in earnings from €31.4 million today.

Uncover how Mercialys’ forecasts yield a €13.20 fair value, a 22% upside to its current price.

Simply Wall St Community members provided two fair value estimates ranging from €13.20 to €15.97 per share. While forecasts vary, the reaffirmed 2025 guidance and continued operational momentum remain key to the evolving performance outlook for Mercialys.

Explore 2 other fair value estimates on Mercialys – why the stock might be worth just €13.20!

Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes – extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

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Chinese officials tried to ease concerns over its shock escalation of rare earth curbs while traveling in Washington, attempting to soften an international backlash while trade negotiations with the US proceed.

Chinese delegates told their global counterparts that tightened export controls will not harm normal trade flows, in discussions on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings this week, according to people familiar with the matter.