Chain blames £1m drop in profits to cyber-attack in May
May’s cyber-attack on its supplier Co-op Group cost Scotmid millions as it revealed its interim results today.
Scotmid’s turnover fell by £1m to £213m for the 26 weeks to 26 July 2025, with a trading profit of £112,000. Same period last year, it had a trading profit of over £2m.
The attack on the Co-op severely interrupted stock supply to Scotmid’s stores and impaired trading ability for the company’s food division in the key summer period of trading.
“The first half of the year has been really challenging,” said Karen Scott, chief executive of Scotmid. “There was a lot of cost pressures that we had anticipated and had a good plan for the increases in National Insurance and the National Minimal Wage etc, but we could never have planned for a cyber-attack.
“I’m proud of what our teams did to respond to that. We responded really quickly. We called on our local suppliers, which we have a really good relationship with. They really stepped up to support us.
“The disruption to our supply chain was the biggest impact. One of our suppliers delivered at the weekend, which was outwith the norm.”
All of Scotmid’s retail divisions were most affected by the supply chain issues and ongoing economic pressures. The food division faced increased employment costs alongside stock issues, resulting in a drop in store turnover and trading profit.
Community remains at the core of Scotmid’s business. Its year-long partnership with cancer charity, Maggie’s has seen it raise £288k by everything from donations instore to abseiling.
“Its’s all credit to our customers, our members and our staff,” said Scott. “The efforts that they went to raise that money was great. I even took part in a challenge at the Kelpies. We had staff shaving their heads and doing all sorts.”
Scotmid returned to its roots in Edinburgh in July by launching a new Fountainbridge store yards away from its original head office, collaborating with other retailers like Chopstix Express Noodles, Saltire Pâtisserie, Tanpop and Costa Coffee. Scott is optimistic about its future.
“It’s very early days, but so far it’s been encouraging,” she said. “And it’s a key point of differentiation from us, from a convenience perspective, it’s always good to try out new things. Our Food To Go team are very good at looking at how the market’s changing.”
