JAMIE CARR: easyJet eyes standing seats in the sky

EasyJet: Upstanding airline

Despite concerns in some of the weightier organs that the global economy is on the edge of an abyss, Europe’s travellers are sticking a sharpened stick into the eye of the doomsters and saying “Stuff that, we’re off to the Costa”.

It is the same doughty spirit that makes them happy to arrive at some godforsaken airport in the middle of the night if it can save them a few quid on the ticket, since that means there’s more pints to be had at the traditional pre-departure trip to Wetherspoons.

EasyJet has reported that bookings for the peak summer season are so strong that it’s forecasting record annual profits of £703m, with about 80% of seats sold for the current quarter and 42% for the next one.

The company is sticking to its policy of offering eye-catchingly low basic fares, then stiffing the clientele vigorously for any extras it can tempt them with, such as priority boarding, food and baggage. What it describes as ancillary revenue from such customer gouging generated an impressive £978m in the six months to the end of March, up from £911m the previous year.

The next innovation to keep costs down may well be the arrival of a standing seat called the Skyrider 2.0. This could increase passenger capacity by up to 20% and save fuel, because the seats weigh about half as much as a traditional seat. All the airlines will have to do is to persuade passengers to endure a flight perched on what looks like a bicycle saddle, and it’ll be raised profits all round.

Marks & Spencer: Cyber shocker

Everything was looking peachy at Marks & Spencer (M&S) as Easter approached. Sales and profits were continuing to show the strong momentum of the past few years, which have seen a sure-footed performance from the FTSE 100 retailer. But before it could tuck into a well-deserved hot cross bun, disaster struck in the form of a cyberattack that involved criminals gaining access to its system via a third-party supplier, with a spot of social engineering that got them into the system and may well end up costing the company about £300m.

M&S has been forced to shut down its online clothing business for a month already, and some reports suggest there are fears that the chaos will continue until July.

Customer data has been stolen, and the company is performing a thorough clean of all its digital systems to ensure there’s nothing toxic lurking in the background. This is despite it having upped its investment in cybersecurity by 75% last year, and quadrupling the body count on its cyber team in the past 2½ years.

It’s not just M&S that has been suffering, with Harrods and Co-op also being attacked in recent weeks, highlighting the vulnerability that working with third-party suppliers can expose.

M&S’s response to the crisis has been exemplary. It is issuing frequent updates to customers and apologising for the theft of customer data, while responding to the extra foot count in its stores by adding more staff at tills and store entrances. It’s been a shocker, but M&S will bounce back.