Royal Mail overseas parcels ban 'costing me hundreds of pounds'

Emma Thomson, who runs a jewellery institution successful Romford, says she is losing hundreds of pounds owed to transportation issues, 2 weeks aft Royal Mail was deed by a cyber-attack.

"It's a nightmare," she told the BBC. "It's gone connected excessively long."

Other firms that trust connected posting items overseas person besides expressed vexation astatine the interaction connected their business.

Royal Mail says it is "working astir the clock" to resoluteness the issues.

Ransomware is malicious machine bundle that encrypts information and locks up systems. Criminals usually request outgo for releasing the data.

The occupation emerged connected Tuesday, 10 January. Customers were told of the occupation the pursuing day.

But it is inactive advising radical not to nonstop caller parcels internationally for now.

Businesses are frustrated astatine the magnitude of clip it has gone connected for.

Ms Thomson says she understands Royal Mail was the unfortunate of a cyber-attack, but thinks the institution should person got things up and moving again sooner.

"You'd expect they'd person measures and precautions for this benignant of thing," she says.

Around 40% of Ms Thomson's sales, from her jewellery institution Gemz by Emz, usually spell to Ireland and the US. She relies connected Royal Mail for those deliveries.

Since the cyber-attack, she has tried to usage different companies to nonstop her products internationally, but says that is costing her astir £6 much per package. "That money's coming retired of my pocket."

Other items that were posted earlier the incidental are stuck successful the hub, waiting to beryllium delivered. "They've shown nary motion of question successful weeks," she says.

She estimates each of this volition extremity up costing her a fewer 100 pounds per month, for arsenic agelong arsenic it continues, and comes connected apical of the postal strikes successful the run-up to Christmas, which besides had an interaction successful her busiest week.

Sarah Turner, proprietor of Little Beau Sheep successful Ilkely, Yorkshire, agrees that the concern is "frustrating".

"We're relying connected our customers' patience and goodwill, but that volition adust up," she says.

Her company, which sells wool tumble drying balls, uses Royal Mail arsenic it is 1 of the much affordable providers of planetary deliveries for tiny parcels.

She has respective outstanding planetary orders pending that she is not capable to despatch owed to the cyber-attack, and says sending them via alternate means would extremity up costing much than the point is worth.

She thinks much connection is needed. "There's nary denotation however agelong this volition spell on, truthful we're not capable to counsel our customers either.

"The [overall] outgo [to us] volition beryllium however agelong this drags on, but it conscionable adds to the woes of past year."

She's disquieted that customers who are inactive waiting for orders whitethorn determine to cancel them, portion others whitethorn clasp disconnected making purchases.

For now, she is inactive accepting orders, but is having to pass customers that she is not capable to nonstop her items for now.

Michelle Ovens, laminitis of Small Business Britain, said the occupation with Royal Mail's planetary transportation strategy was "yet different headache" for firms.

"Finding opportunities abroad, peculiarly done exporting, is simply a large mode tiny firms tin prosecute maturation erstwhile the UK system is flat.

"Small businesses simply cannot spend to suffer retired connected planetary opportunities, truthful everything indispensable beryllium done to resoluteness this arsenic soon arsenic possible."

Despite customers' frustration, Ciaran Martin, prof astatine University of Oxford and erstwhile main of the National Cyber Security Centre, told the BBC that Royal Mail was "not being unusually slow".

He said it takes clip to retrieve from these types of incidents, and it is "very uncommon successful ransomware attacks for things to beryllium resolved quickly".

He pointed retired that erstwhile you person attacks similar this, determination tin beryllium extended harm to the web which tin instrumentality a agelong clip to repair, adjacent if a concern puts successful spot workarounds successful the meantime.

"What radical don't recognize astir specified attacks is whether oregon not you wage immoderate the transgression is demanding, the machine networks get battered and instrumentality a portion to retrieve regardless."

Royal Mail apologised for the disruption.

"Our archetypal absorption is connected clearing export parcels that person already been processed and are waiting to beryllium despatched. We proceed to marque bully progress," a spokesperson said.

The institution asks customers not to nonstop caller planetary parcels "until further notice".