HOT TOPIC

You don’t need reminding that Marks & Spencer recently experienced a major cyber breach, one that is expected to cost up to £300 million in profits this year.

Six weeks on, the vital question remains: how confident are you that your organisation could withstand a similar attack?

Overview

This Hot-Topic exclusive roundtable dinner brought together senior retail and hospitality leaders from organisations including Monsoon, TJ Maxx, Manolo Blahnik and IHG Hotels & Resorts. To address two critical pillars of operational resilience: cybersecurity and network integrity.

Through candid peer discussion, attendees explored where cyber and network strategies intersect and where they must evolve independently. Key topics included:

• Zero trust frameworks
• Endpoint security
• Hybrid work challenges
• Monitoring tools that provide both security and operational insight

This was not a sales pitch, but a collaborative exchange focused on the current threat landscape; an opportunity to share experiences, learn from real-world case studies, and gain practical insights.

Why This Dinner Mattered

Cyberattacks are increasingly targeting the retail and hospitality sectors, exploiting vulnerabilities across guest systems, payment platforms, and internal operations. From ransomware to supply chain breaches, attackers are not just stealing data, they are disrupting services and eroding customer trust.

At the same time, the network has become a frontline asset. With the rapid growth of IoT, cloud services, and remote management tools, it now underpins everything from online ordering to property management systems.

Against the backdrop of recent high-profile incidents, public awareness of data risk is at an all-time high. Organisations must demonstrate they are taking the necessary steps to protect customer data and maintain trust.

Key Discussion Topics

• Understanding the evolving threat landscape across retail and hospitality
• Embedding security into both customer-facing and operational platforms
• Leveraging modern network architecture to reduce risk and increase agility
• Segmenting, monitoring, and securing systems across multiple locations
• Applying zero trust principles and improving network visibility in hybrid environments
• Modernising legacy infrastructure to enhance uptime and performance

The Setting

Hosted at Bob Bob Ricard City, the evening combined insightful discussion with an exceptional dining experience. Known for its glamorous interiors and classic British and French cuisine, the venue provided an ideal backdrop for meaningful conversation.

Designed by Shayne Brady, the space draws inspiration from the Royal Yacht Britannia and modern superyachts, setting a benchmark for contemporary nautical elegance.

“It was nice to find an option for all participants to interact with each others. The seated dinner gave the opportunity to talk to everyone. It was a wonderful time!

– IHG Hotels & Resorts

“The mix of people, venue and hospitality was excellent, thank you. The content presented at the start was also really useful but I wish there was a bit of facilitated conversation across the table to better understand what peers in the room are working on / worried about, although I am conscious this is a delicate topic. Maybe some planned moves of seating position after one of the courses could have been a middleground. I am very pleased to have attended and did certainly learn and meet interesting people, so thank you very much.”

– Self-Portrait

“I loved it because it was a good balance of networking and informative cybersecurity discussions”

– Tapestry