Your commercial news round-up: energy supply, M&S, Gymshark, Virgin media

Ellie Nicholl (she/her) is senior content and engagement coordinator at LawCareers.Net

Reading time: four minutes

Have you been keeping up with the commercial news? Britain’s latest heatwave has prompted the National Energy System Operator to seek additional power supplies to meet rising electricity demand, while Marks & Spencer is investing in heat-resistant refrigeration as retailers adapt to hotter temperatures. Meanwhile, Gymshark founder Ben Francis is reportedly exploring a deal to increase his stake in the sportswear brand and Virgin Media has been fined £28 million after Ofcom found it made it unnecessarily difficult for customers to cancel their contracts.

• Great Britain’s energy system operator has warned that high temperatures could put pressure on electricity supplies as the UK experiences its third heatwave of the year. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) issued an electricity margin notice seeking additional power generation to help meet increased demand from households using fans and air conditioning. It stated that the notice is a routine tool used to balance the electricity system, adding: “We will continue to monitor conditions closely and take any actions necessary to maintain secure electricity supplies […] There is no risk to customer electricity supplies.” Temperatures in parts of southern England are expected to reach 34 Celsius (C), while heat across Europe is also reducing some electricity generation and affecting French nuclear plants that export power to the UK. Neso issued a similar request for extra electricity supplies during last month’s record-breaking heatwave, which saw the UK record-breaking provisional high of 37.7C.
   
• The effects of the heatwave are also being felt by retailers. Marks & Spencer is investing in refrigeration equipment that can operate in temperatures of up to 45C as retailers adapt to hotter weather. Speaking at the retailer’s annual meeting in London, CEO Stuart Machin said the company was upgrading equipment and planning for rising temperatures as the company is “assuming it’s going to get hotter”. The retailer is understood to be installing fridges with doors to help maintain cooler temperatures in warm weather. The investment comes after several retailers reported that refrigeration systems struggled during June’s heatwave. Machin also commented that a recent surge in demand for ice cream caused six product lines to sell out and led one supplier to hire 10 additional staff.
   
• Gymshark founder and CEO Ben Francis is reportedly in talks to buy back part of the 21% stake in the sportswear company that he sold to private equity firm General Atlantic in 2020. The deal would increase Francis’s control of the business, which was valued at £1.25 billion when General Atlantic invested. The company remains majority-owned by Francis, who holds a 70% stake. According to the Financial Times, Francis is discussing the size and valuation of the stake with General Atlantic and is also speaking to banks about financing the transaction. The talks come as Gymshark navigates slower growth due to changes in spending habits and increased competition, according to The Guardian. The company’s revenue rose by 6.5% to £647 million in the year to July 2025, while pre-tax profit fell from £11.8 million to £6.9 million. In its annual results filing, Gymshark said efforts to reduce discounting and invest in marketing and brand awareness helped drive stronger sales growth.
   
• Virgin Media has been fined £28 million by Ofcom after the regulator found it repeatedly made it difficult for customers to cancel broadband, landline and pay-TV contracts between January 2022 and September 2024. Ofcom said millions of calls were “likely mishandled” and uncovered practices including excessive call transfers, agents deliberately hanging up calls and repeated attempts to persuade customers to stay. The regulator also found that Virgin Media’s commission scheme “effectively encouraged” and financially rewarded call centre staff for this behaviour, while a two-tier retention system meant many customers had to repeat cancellation requests to another agent. Ofcom received 1,881 complaints from customers who reported difficulties leaving, with some cancelling direct debits and subsequently damaging their credit scores. Ofcom’s group director for infrastructure and connectivity, Natalie Black, described the findings as “pretty shocking” and said they showed “poor behaviour”. Virgin Media apologised to the “small proportion who experienced an issue when contacting us to agree a new deal or cancel their service in the past”, and said it had “completely redesigned” its customer service, while Ofcom said the company must review affected customers’ cases and pay the fine within two months.

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 LinkedIn and Instagram for regular business news updates.