Your commercial news round-up: Claire’s, Pandora data breach, bar shutdowns, inherited wealth disputes

Reading time: three minutes

Claire’s has filed for bankruptcy in the US and Pandora becomes the latest cyberattack victim. Meanwhile, Simmons has announced plans to close four sites and the generational wealth gap contributes to a rise in family disputes over inheritance. Find out more in this week’s commercial news round-up.

• High-street accessories chain Claire’s has recently filed for bankruptcy in the US for the second time since 2018. The US retailer has more than 2,700 stores, including at least 280 locations in the UK as of 2025. The reasons cited for the chain’s bankruptcy included heavy debt (between $1billion and $10 billion), weak high-street shopping mall footfall and uncertainty around tariff policy and increased competition. In the UK, the company recently appointed advisers to consider future options, which could result in store closures. According to the latest Companies House accounts, UK sales dropped by almost 1% in the year to 1 February 2024 to £136 million when it made a pre-tax loss of £4 million, following a £5 million loss the year before.
   
• Jewellery giant Pandora is the latest brand to have suffered a cyberattack, following a series of attacks earlier in the year on other businesses, including M&S, the Co-op and Harrods. The jeweller confirmed on 5 August 2025 that customer information was accessed through a third-party platform, stating: “Only very common types of data were copied by the attacker – specifically name, birthdate, and email address. We’d like to stress that no passwords, credit card details or similar confidential data were involved in this incident.”
  
  Pandora has emphasised that privacy and protecting consumer data is “extremely important” and said that it’s taking the “matter very seriously”. However, cyber expert Christoph Cemper warned customers and urged them to stay vigilant for fishing: “Phishing attacks, if successful, can allow hackers to steal vital information, or lead to financial loss if the user clicks any links or downloads malicious attachments.” Cemper called for companies to “employ effective detection tools which can monitor for suspicious activities”.
   
• London-based cocktail chain Simmons entered administration, making it the latest to fall victim to the rising cost pressures facing hospitality groups. Corporate filings of the company showed a loss of £749,000 for the year to March 2024, reversing a profit of just under £2 million the previous year. Chair of UKHospitality reported: “Our last survey showed that half of London hospitality businesses are operating at or below break even – up from a third since the budget. That’s because the costs of doing business – rent, rates, employment – are much higher in the capital but we have yet to see footfall and visitor numbers recover to pre covid levels.” This restructuring has led to four branch closures, but Simmons aims to continue business with its remaining sites, with founder Nick Campbell confirming that the business has “secured additional investment to support future expansion and operational improvements across the estate”.
  
  Elsewhere, the British Beer and Pub Association has forecast that more than 370 pubs could close this year across England, Wales and Scotland – this amounts to an average of more than one closure per day and around 5,600 job losses.
   
• The growing generational wealth gap in the UK has caused a surge in family disputes over inherited wealth. Applications to lodge caveats with the Probate Registry reached a record high of more than 3,000 in one quarter, according to law firm Taylor Rose. Pressures such as increasingly high living costs, prolonged life expectancy and escalating house prices (with the average property now around £269,000) are key factors prompting more challenging of wills. Joint head of wills, trusts and probate disputes at Taylor Rose, Wendy Rixon, explained: “Many people have become more dependent on inheritance, particularly those who have found it unaffordable to get onto the property ladder.”

Check the News every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up. Prefer to listen to your commercial news? Why not check out our Commercial Connect podcast?

Follow LawCareers.Net on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram for regular business news updates.