Following the company’s collapse into administration earlier this year, former employees of Moores Furniture Group may have now had their personal information stolen following a cyber-attack on the shuttered business.
Former Moores staff were told of the shock news last week in a letter from the company’s joint administrators, James Clark and Will Wright, from Interpath Advisory. The letter informed them that some of the business’ systems and data had been compromised as part of the attack.
A statement from the joint administrators confirmed that they became aware of the breach on August 9, referring to the attack as “a cyber incident involving unauthorised access to some of its IT systems”.
The statement continues: “The Joint Administrators are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness. Specialist cyber security experts were promptly engaged to investigate the incident, determine its nature and scope, and support the Company’s response.”
The investigation found that “certain data” was accessed and taken from Moores’ systems, which unfortunately includes personal information relating to some former employees.
“The Company notified the Information Commissioner’s Office (the “ICO”) and engaged with it in relation to its enquiries,” the statement continued. “The incident has also been reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. The Joint Administrators are committed to keeping those individuals whose data may have been impacted informed as further information becomes available.”
Administrators also said that the ICO has now closed its file into the incident, but that their own investigation into the incident remains ongoing. Similarly, the administrators have said that updates concerning impacted individual will be provided where appropriate as the investigation continues.
Yorkshire-based Moores Furniture Group entered administration in January of this year, with Wren Kitchens buying its customer list and certain intellectual property assets via a pre-pack deal at the time. An administrator’s report released in February revealed that the company’s collapse was driven by a period of sustained losses, with more than £30m owed to creditors at the time.
Prior to its administration, Moores supplied kitchens for private developers, affordable housing, trade channels, and consumers. The company was founded in 1947 by George Moore, who reportedly started the business out of a second-hand hen hut, using just £45 to start his own joinery business. Moores began supplying kitchen units for public sector and affordable housing associations in 1969, before introducing products to the retail market in 1990.