Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has rejected a recent UK media report that claimed British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) ended a $1 billion contract with the Indian IT company due to cyberattack-related failures. The tech giant called the story “misleading” and “factually inaccurate.”
In a clarification to stock exchanges, TCS said the article titled “M&S ousts Indian outsourcer accused of £300m cyberattack failures” contained several incorrect details, including the size of the deal and its link to a cyber incident.
“The report published is misleading, with factual inaccuracies including the size of the contract and the continuity of TCS’ work for Marks & Spencer (M&S),” the company said.
What exactly happened?
TCS explained that the M&S service desk contract mentioned in the article had gone through a routine competitive bidding process that began in January 2025. The company added that M&S decided to work with another partner “much prior to the cyber incident in April 2025,” making it clear that the two matters were unrelated.
The IT firm also pointed out that the service desk contract represented only a small portion of its overall work with M&S. “TCS continues to work on numerous other areas in its role as a strategic partner for M&S and is proud of this longstanding partnership,” it said.
Addressing the cyberattack reports, TCS clarified that it had carried out a full scan of its systems and found no weaknesses or security breaches from its side. It also confirmed that cybersecurity services for M&S are managed by another vendor, not TCS.
The clarification followed media reports suggesting that M&S did not renew its $1 billion technology helpdesk deal with TCS after a cyberattack that allegedly caused losses of around £300 million. Both TCS and M&S have since confirmed that the decision to end the contract was made earlier as part of a normal renewal process, not because of the cyber incident.
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Shivam Verma is a journalist with over three years of experience in digital newsrooms. He currently works at NewsX, having previously worked for Firstpost and DNA India. A postgraduate diploma holder in Integrated Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Shivam focuses on international affairs, diplomacy, defence, and politics. Beyond the newsroom, he is passionate about football—both playing and watching—and enjoys travelling to explore new places and cuisines.
