Marks & Spencer swaps out TCS for fresh helpdesk deal

Move follows months-long procurement process as retailer refreshes parts of its IT support setup

UK retailer Marks & Spencer has replaced Tata Consultancy Services as its IT service desk provider following a procurement process that began in January.

The contract ended this summer, though TCS continues supporting other IT services for M&S, a spokesperson at the food, clothes and household good supplier told The Register.

"Regarding the IT service desk contract specifically, as is usual process, we went to market to test for the most suitable product available, ran a thorough process and instructed a new provider this summer. This process started in January, and this change has no bearing on our wider TCS relationship," they said.

M&S declined to name the new contractor or which contracts TCS continues to fulfill.

It's been a troubled year for M&S. In April, it told the London Stock Exchange it was managing a "cyber incident" for "the past few days." An email to customers, seen by The Register, said Click & Collect orders were affected.

Operations were significantly disrupted in the subsequent months as technies tried to restore normality.

M&S CEO Stuart Machin said in May that the attack was likely to take a £300 million ($400 million) chunk out of the company's profits for the 2025/26 financial year.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) cuffed four people the following month in connection with the attack on M&S and more British retailers, which all occurred within a matter of weeks.

By August, the retailer said it had finally restored its Click & Collect service, while the Scan and Shop service had limited availability and online stock checking functionality remained affected.

In 2018, M&S opted to cut its tech supplier base and transfer 250 staff to TCS under an IT outsourcing accord. The retailer agreed to pay a one-time "implementation cost" of £25 million to offload delivery and management of certain functions to the Indian headquartered firm, estimating it would save £150 million over five years.

TCS became M&S's "principal technology supplier," replacing agreements including those with Fujitsu and Sapient. The outsourcing deal was designed to identify areas of inefficiency at M&S.

In a statement sent to The Register, a TCS spokesperson said:

"The service desk contract with M&S followed a regular competitive RFP process initiated in January 2025, with M&S opting to proceed with other partners. The service desk component represents a small part of TCS' overall engagement with M&S. We continue to work on numerous other areas, in our role as a strategic partner for M&S."

"On the cyber incident itself, TCS conducted a review of our own networks and systems and our conclusion is that the vulnerabilities have not originated from there. TCS does not provide cyber security services to M&S. This is a service that is provided by another partner." ®