The band are taking a break after smashing box office records on their latest tour
Coldplay celebrated the end of their record-breaking 10-show run at Wembley Stadium with a dazzling, multi-coloured night of musical magic.
Playing hits from every era of their 25-year career, they filled the stadium with light, and even indulged themselves with a giddy version of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody. “This is the song I warm up to in the car park,” joked singer Chris Martin.
The show closed the latest leg of their Music Of The Spheres Tour, which has circled the world four times since 2022. It is now the highest-attended tour in history, with more than 12m tickets sold.
On stage, Martin promised it would resume “somewhere in southern Africa in about 18 months”.
Friday’s show was held almost a week late, after a strike by London transport workers forced the band to postpone.
“I know it caused a lot of inconvenience for a lot of you,” Martin told the crowd. “In return we’re going to play a show fifteen times better than any show we’ve ever played before. That’s the pledge.”
They might not have achieved that goal – Coldplay have already set themselves a ridiculously high bar – but this was stadium stagecraft at its absolute finest.
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Coldplay are the first band to power a concert at Wembley Stadium entirely by renewable energy with no generator use.
The concert is a sensory overload, full of LED writstbands, raining confetti, laser lights, spinning inflatables, 3D glasses that turn everything into hearts and stars, and even a brief puppet show (the operators, Drew and Nicolette, happily got engaged during last Saturday’s concert).
Martin is the glue that holds it together. He bounds across the stage like a puppy – or is it a youth pastor? – covering the length of the catwalk several times within the first few songs.
His plan isn’t just to bridge the gap between the band and the audience, it’s to dismantle it entirely.
“I see you,” he says repeatedly, identifying uber-fans at the front and distant figures in the vertigo seats.
“I see you over here with a Brazilian flag. And I see you, too, in the top corner with lights on your bodies. You look like you’re from the movie Tron.”
It’s a schtick, for sure, but it fosters an incredible sense of unity. Those LED wristbands play a huge part, too, making everyone in the audience part of a giant tapestry of light. And there’s a communal euphoria in singing along to hits like Paradise, The Scientist, Yellow and Sky Full of Stars.
After the first 30 minutes, I realised that I’d barely looked at the giant screens above the stage.
The audience is the show.
Coldplay
The Wembley concerts alone were attended by more than 800,000 people
That’s a contrast to most stadium concerts, where the message is more like: “Look upon me, puny mortals, and be astonished by my divine talents and somewhat improbable physique.”
Coldplay don’t bother with any of that. Martin’s bandmates Guy Berryman, Will Chamberlain and Jonny Buckland would rather that no-one noticed them at all. Instead, they’d rather make a fuss over their special guests.
In London, that means Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Orchestra – a group of youth players who’ve supported the band at all of their Wembley dates. They come out twice, for Viva La Vida and feelslikeimfallinginlove, twirling their cellos and jumping up and down as they provide the stirring string accompaniment.
Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna, meanwhile, hogs the spotlight during We Pray, hitting some quite extraordinary high notes.
Who has played the most shows at Wembley Stadium?
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Coldplay – 16 nights on the Music of the Spheres tour, 2022-25*
Taylor Swift – Eight nights on the Eras tour, 2024
Take That – Eight nights on the Progress tour, 2011
Oasis – Seven nights on the Live ’25 tour, 2025
Michael Jackson – Seven night on the Bad tour, 1988
* Including six nights in 2022 and 10 night in 2025
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Coldplay formed in London in the late 1990s, initially under the name Starfish
Musically, Coldplay’s set-list is stacked. There’s a thrilling version of Clocks that shudders with discordant guitar riffs before resolving into a powerful chorus; and an extended acoustic version of Sparks has fans swooning.
Something Just Like This, an abominable song on record, becomes a euphoric mini-rave on stage; while Fix You is simply majestic.
With the tour about to go on hiatus (or maybe because he keeps self-administering throat spray) Martin is on whimsical form.
He describes Coldplay as “the third best soft rock band in London”; randomly sings the opening lines of Wonderwall; and, during Paradise, invokes the dancehall star Shaggy, for no discernible reason.
“That song was by Shaggy,” he declares, inaccurately.
Towards the end of the show, he stops everything to celebrate Buckland’s 48th birthday, presenting the guitarist with a Lego Batmobile and promising, “I’ll give you £1m if you build it before Fix You”.
Then, preparing to play the album track Jupiter for the first time, he announces: “This could be terrible. But if it is terrible, don’t worry, we’re going to play Yellow in a minute.
“Will Champion could fart in the microphone, as long as we play Yellow.”
Coldplay were the first group to use LED wristbands at their concerts, and the technology has evolved to allow incredibly sophisticated light shows
Martin later admits that his sense of humour “gets me into trouble every day”. But not as much trouble as married tech CEO Andy Byron, who was caught in a loving embrace with his HR executive on the giant screens of a Coldplay concert in the US earlier this year.
The moment – during part of the show where Martin serenades audience members with an improvised song – went viral, and has reportedly led to at least one divorce. So when the jumbotron section of the show starts on Friday, Martin issues a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer.
“Whatever happens here, stays here. Guaranteed. So if you’ve just embezzled the company funds, come on camera now. It’s fine.”
Before long, a young couple flashes up on the screen.
“Holy crap, don’t put me through this again,” the singer grimaces, only agreeing to play a song after they’ve flashed their wedding rings at the camera.
Coldplay
The band are due to take a well-deserved break
The spontaneity and humour is part of what makes every Coldplay show unique, even when most of the set is painstakingly planned out.
On Friday, fans at the final London date showed their appreciation.
It was a bittersweet moment. Fans know the band have a long break planned. And even if they use their gap year to make new music, Martin has announced it will be their final album.
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The Big Story
Pentagon ‘tracking’ employees who mock, celebrate Kirk death
Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethis warning civilian and military employees that the Pentagon is “tracking” any comments from them that celebrate or mock the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
“We are tracking all these very closely — and will address, immediately. Completely unacceptable,” Hegseth wrote Thursday on social media.
Hegseth was responding to a statement from chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, who earlier said it is “unacceptable for military personnel and Department of War civilians to celebrate or mock the assassination of a fellow American. The Department of War has zero tolerance for it,” using the Trump administration’s preferred name for the Department of Defense.
They did not mention any specific examples of personnel who had reacted positively to Kirk’s death.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot in the neck at the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday. After a search, officials identified the suspected shooter as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah man.
Both Republican and Democratic political figures — including all living former U.S. presidents — have condemned Kirk’s assassination, but a small number of social media users have mocked or celebrated the killing, drawing outrage.
The heads of military services also have warned those under them that any inappropriate comments on Kirk will be met with retribution. Navy Secretary John Phelan cautioned sailors, Marines and civilians they “will be dealt with swiftly and decisively” should they bring “discredit” on the department.
“I am aware of posts displaying contempt toward a fellow American who was assassinated,” he wrote on the social platform X late Thursday. “I want to be very clear: any uniformed or civilian employee of the Department of the Navy who acts in a manner that brings discredit upon the Department, the [U.S. Navy] or the [Marine Corps] will be dealt with swiftly and decisively.”
The official X account for the U.S. Coast Guard, meanwhile, also said it “is aware of inappropriate personal social media activity made by a member regarding recent political violence,” though did not provide specifics.
Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
A midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy was injured Thursday after mistaking law enforcement for an active shooter due to online misinformation. After concerns of an active shooter were posted anonymously on a chat platform, the campus in Annapolis, Md., was placed on lockdown shortly after 5 p.m. and security officials began clearing buildings, CNN reported. Even as communications from the school’s commandant seen by …
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees recently started arriving at a former prison in Tennessee, prison firm CoreCivic told The Hill on Thursday. “We have begun receiving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees at our West Tennessee Detention Facility (WTDF) in response to an immediate need from the federal government for safe, humane and appropriate housing and care for these individuals,” CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin told The Hill in an emailed statement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Thursday that the U.S. is preparing to “respond accordingly” to Brazil’s 27-year prison sentence for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of attempting a coup to stay in office after he lost reelection in 2022. Rubio accused the Brazilian federal court justice who is overseeing the case and others of unfairly targeting Bolsonaro. “The political …
A former CIA officer who helped fight the war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, says another attack against the U.S. remains possible. Tracy Walder, a national security contributor for The Hill’s sister network NewsNation, was part of the effort to track down 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, who was killed by a Navy SEAL team in 2011. She tells “The Hill on NewsNation” that taking out terrorist leaders …
Suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting identified as Tyler Robinson
The FBI has taken a man named Tyler Robinson into custody as a suspect in connection to the assassination on Wednesday of conservative activist Charlie Kirk following a multiday search. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen — we got him,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said at a Friday morning press conference. …
Upcoming things we’re watching in and around the defense world:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio set to travel to Israel tomorrow for discussion on th Gaza Strip in the wake of an Israeli strike on Qatar.
Brookingswill discuss “The state of democracy: Global insights from Africa,” at 10:00 a.m. EDT on Monday.
The Center for a New American Securitywill have a conversation on “Europe with Less U.S.: Preventing Russia Opportunistic Aggression in Europe,” Monday at 11:30 a.m. EDT
What We’re Reading
News we’ve flagged from other outlets:
Trump says he’ll send National Guard to Memphis, escalating his use of troops in US cities (The Associated Press)
Pentagon stages first ‘Top Drone’ school for operators to hone skills (Military Times)
Opinions in The Hill
Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill:
BBC Verify has been to the house in Washington, Utah which has been linked to Tyler Robinson – the suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk.
Sitting in the driveway was a grey car, similar to the model detectives said the suspect had driven to Utah Valley University where Kirk was fatally shot.
BBC Verify’s Nick Beake has been searching for answers at the location and on social media.
Produced by Aisha Sembhi. Graphics by Mesut Ersoz.
Ousted MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd said MSNBC bent its knee to a “right wing media mob” after the outlet fired him over comments he made on air about the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“The Right Wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob,” Dowd wrote in a a Friday Substack post. “Even though most at MSNBC knew my words were being misconstrued, the timing of my words forgotten (remember I said this before anyone knew Kirk was a target), and that I apologized for any miscommunication on my part, I was terminated by the end of the day,”
“I am getting over the shell shock of the past few days, and will turn my gaze on adventures and the journey ahead. And a big part of that will be using my voice on this and other platforms to advocate for finding ways to unite our country around a common-sense vision of ideals and values,” he added.
Dowd’s statement comes just a day after MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler announced his dismissal, issuing a statement apologizing for his words while urging other employees to be cautious of their comments.
“During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable,” Kutler, who replaced Rashida Jones as leader of the network in January, said.
“We apologize for his statements, as has he,” she added. “There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”
Dowd has worked for MSNBC for three years and contributed to major coverage of breaking news events.
On Wednesday, Dowd described Kirk as “divisive” while details of his death were developing, adding that the Turning Point USA founder was known for hate speech.
“Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions,” the former MSNBC analyst said on air.
He later apologized for those comments.
“My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment we are in. I apologize for my tone and words. Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind,” he wrote on social media Thursday.
In a follow up Substack post on Friday, Dowd said he would pursue new opportunities to promote peace nationwide.
Dowd said, “reimagining a new America starts with new eyes, leads to a new language, and will involve building new institutions and reforming many that no longer fit us.”
“Even though I am down and a bit disheartened in this moment, I still have hope and faith in a majority of Americans who want and hunger for the same things I do. We can do this,” he concluded.
Inspired by the recent total lunar eclipse? There are more celestial events to look out for this autumn as the nights start to draw in.
Whilst meteorological autumn begins every year on the same date – 1 September – the start of astronomical autumn varies with the date of the equinox.
This is when Sun is directly above Earth’s equator resulting in almost equal time of the length of day and night.
This year, the equinox falls on 22 September at 19:20 BST.
From this point the light will fade faster in the evenings and the nights will become longer.
By the end of November, we will have lost around five to six hours of daylight on average compared to the end of August. Check your local sunset and sunrise times here.
And there is plenty to look out for during those darker nights.
The day before the equinox (21 September), Saturn will be at its closest to earth and will appear at its brightest.
That’s because it will be in ‘opposition’, meaning that it is located directly opposite the Sun so will be fully illuminated and appear at its biggest and brightest.
This is not an unusual event but it is one of the easiest and most satisfying planets to identify with its famous rings.
Visible to the naked eye, it will look like an non-twinkling star in the constellation of Pisces. You will need a telescope to spot the rings however.
It will remain in the evening sky for the rest of the year.
Orionid meteor shower
Image source, Getty Images/Will Langlands
Image caption,
There could be around 25 meteors an hour during the peak of the Orionids
The Orionid meteor shower takes place between 2 October and 7 November, peaking for about a week around the 22 October.
The Orionids are fast-moving meteors with long steaks of light and originate from the well-known Halley’s Comet.
Look towards the constellation of Orion, stay away from city lights and let your eyes adjust to the dark before trying to spot the Orionid meteors. The peak coincides with the new moon so viewing conditions will be ideal with no moonlight pollution.
Draconids and Taurids meteor showers
Less spectacular this year will be the Draconid and Taurid meteor showers.
The Draconids peak on the night of 8 October, coinciding with the full Moon which will make the meteors much harder to spot.
Likewise the peak of the Taurids on 12 November, which only produces around 5 meteors an hour, will be affected by light pollution from a waxing gibbuous Moon with an illuminated surface of 84%.
Supermoon
Image source, PA/ Ben Birchall
Image caption,
The full Moon in perigee rising above Glastonbury Tor in December 2024
The Moon has an elliptical orbit and when it is at its closest point to the Earth we say that it is in perigee.
When the perigee coincides with a full Moon it is known as a supermoon. It can appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is further away from the Earth.
The next supermoon will occur on 5 November, with another to follow on 4 December.
Clear or cloudy?
Cloudy skies have of course scuppered many a great night of stargazing.
In order to see all these celestial events we will need clear skies.
With our jet stream currently across the south of the UK and low pressure dominating, the weather has been unsettled and mixed of late.
Keep checking the full monthly outlook from BBC Weather here.
Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, will speak out publicly on Friday for the first time since her husband’s killing.
Charlie Kirk, the fiery conservative activist and father of two, was shot and killed at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. The suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, was arrested after a two-day manhunt Friday.
BOSTON — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 362nd home run Friday night, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and taking sole possession of fourth place on the franchise’s all-time list.
One game after Judge homered twice to tie DiMaggio with President Donald Trump at Yankee Stadium to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Yankees captain hit the second pitch he saw from Boston’s Lucas Giolito over the Green Monster in left-center field at Fenway Park.
The 468-foot shot gave New York a 1-0 lead over Boston as the longtime rivals battle for playoff position. The Yankees entered the night with a one-half game edge over the Red Sox in the AL East, behind division leader Toronto, with both in position for a wild-card berth.
Judge reached 362 homers in his 1,130th game. DiMaggio played 1,736 games and hit his last homer on Sept. 28, 1951, at the end of a 13-year career that was interrupted for three seasons because he served in World War II.
Judge’s 47th homer of the season raised his major league-best batting average to .324.
Judge broke a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth on New York’s career list Tuesday night. Babe Ruth hit 659 of his 714 homers with the Yankees. Mickey Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493) are the other Yankees ahead of Judge.
Over the next couple of weeks, hundreds of thousands of new students will descend on universities around the country.
For many, this will mark the start of a brand new adventure – though one often filled with a lot of worry.
To help with nerves, BBC News asked for tips from 2024’s first-years, who’ve already sussed out being freshers.
From balancing studies and social life, to looking after your mental health and the importance of doing the washing up, this is what the class of 2024 have to say to the new kids on the block.
Edith Adam says she was “terrified” when she moved to Liverpool last year to study medicine.
What she hadn’t realised at the time was that other freshers were just as scared as she was.
“I was absolutely terrified about not being able to make friends or that people wouldn’t like me,” says Edith, who’s now going into her second year.
“I wish I had understood everyone else was terrified, and that they appreciate it when you go up to them and say hi.”
Edith Adam
A student at Liverpool University, Edith says saying hello to people helped break the ice
Having never been to Liverpool before – a city with a party reputation – Edith worried she might not fit in.
“I was really scared of being ostracised for not wanting to go clubbing every night and not being a drinker,” she says.
But Edith was still able to find her people.
“No one actually cares. There are plenty of things you can do that don’t revolve around late nights. Just find what works for you.”
Edith Adam
Edith manages to balance studying with having fun with her friends
The 24-year-old, from Huddersfield, says her advice would be not to put too much importance on the infamous freshers’ week.
“I think everyone goes in with the expectation that it’s this amazing, wild week, where you meet your best friends for life and have your best time at uni,” she says.
And her top tip for staying friends with your flatmates?
“If it takes less than two minutes, just do it,” Edith says. “It’s so easy for everything to pile up, and then you don’t wash your plates for five days, and all of a sudden everything is dirty and you have no cutlery – and your flatmates hate you.”
But what if you can’t make freshers week?
This is the situation Konstantin Schmidt faced last year, after issues with his visa delayed his start at Greenwich University by five weeks.
Although people told him the freshers parties he’d missed out on were “fun”, the mechanical engineering student says he still managed to settle in well by joining up to student clubs.
“Societies are the best way to find people who share the same passion,” Konstantin says.
Konstantin Schmidt
Konstantin (third from the left on the back row) had never played volleyball before starting university
Joining both a volleyball society and the Formula One society, he says he had positive interactions right from the off.
“The second I joined the room the members saw I was new and instantly included me,” Konstantin says. “I also met new people through volleyball who were on my course who quickly became my friends.”
Konstantin Schmidt
Flat dinners can also help new students get to know each other, Konstantin says
The 21-year-old bonded with his flatmates by exploring each other’s culture through food and music.
In his first weeks, Konstantin, who’s from Bavaria in Germany, made Spätzle – a pasta dish topped with grilled cheese for a dinner party with his flatmates.
“Everyone really liked” his food, he says – but he admits the best dish was a Filipino one made by his flatmate, Kai.
“It helped us understand everyone’s culture even better,” Konstantin says.
While many people starting university will be living away for the first time, some students still live at home.
Commuting more than an hour each way between Glasgow and Edinburgh, Rebecca can relate.
“If they forget something, my friends can just nip back to their accommodation, whereas I can’t, ” she says. “But it’s not bad, I like commuting in.”
Going into her second year of a business management course, Rebecca is now much more organised and comfortable with the journey, after experiencing some hiccups in her first year.
Handout
Rebecca applied to Edinburgh Napier through clearing, the only university she applied to
In some cases, cancelled trains meant she had to pay for a taxi all the way to Edinburgh.
“In second year I will definitely be checking my trains,” Rebecca says.
Her advice for freshers is simple: “Make sure your bag is fully packed with everything you might need – and plan your commute.”
Rebecca’s university experience has been different from many others as she was only 16 when she started her course.
“I thought everyone was going to be older and not want to speak to me,” she says. “But it wasn’t like that at all. The age gap doesn’t really matter.”
Handout
Staying at home has allowed Rebecca to continue to dance three nights a week
Now 17, Rebecca is still waiting to experience a full freshers’ week, but says she was still able to attend under-18 events.
Her advice for those in a similar position?
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” she says. “I felt like I couldn’t ask for help because people would think I didn’t deserve to be there because I’m younger.
“They don’t care that you’re 16 or 17. Just ask for help.”
As the first in her family to go to university, Tian Liu didn’t know what to expect before she started her combined honours degree in social sciences.
“I did so much research, but I still felt so unprepared,” Tian says. “University is definitely a roller coaster. There was a point I wanted to drop out, but now I can definitely see the fruits of my labour.”
Tian Liu
University brought many new experiences for Tian, including having to share a room with a complete stranger
Now going into her second year, the 19-year-old has found a better balance and would advise incoming students to look after their mental health.
“With tuition fees rising there is such a pressure to make the most out of it, but you can burn out,” Tian says. “University is as much as you make of it, but give yourself grace.
“Have close friends who can act as support and accountability if you are doing too much, and use pastoral teams that the university offers,” she adds.
“There is no need to rush, it’s all a constant learning curve.”
Tian Liu
Tian has spent the summer in New York and now would like to work on the other side of the pond
One year on from moving to Durham from Leeds, Tian is in New York completing an internship she got through her university – something she “could never have imagined” last year.
Her advice for incoming students?
“Don’t disqualify yourself from anything. Be your biggest cheerleader. And take so many photos.”
Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, is slated to speak out Friday evening in her first public remarks after the fatal shooting of her husband.
Earlier on Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) revealed that authorities have a suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, in custody.
A court filing shows Robinson is being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice charges. At a press conference Friday, Cox laid out details in the case, including markings that were found on bullet casings.
President Trump initially told “Fox & Friends” this morning that a suspect was in custody. He made the surprise announcement in an appearance at Fox News studios in New York.
Vice President Vance said he was “grateful” for the investigators and asked for prayers for Kirk’s widow, Erika. He and second lady Usha Vance accompanied her, along with Kirk’s casket, back to Phoenix late Thursday on Air Force Two.
Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are wrestling with the fallout from Wednesday’s assassination, which stunned the country, sent shock waves through Washington and sparked new talk — and new fears — about congressional security in an age of heightened political animus.
Also Friday morning in Washington, Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was giving a deposition in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into former President Biden’s fitness for office.
The past two weeks have been dreadful for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), and the crisis at the car maker shows no sign of coming to an end.
A cyber attack, which first came to light on 1 September, forced the manufacturer to shut down its computer systems and close production lines worldwide.
Its factories in Solihull, Halewood, and Wolverhampton are expected to remain idle until at least Wednesday, as the company continues to assess the damage.
JLR is thought to have lost at least £50m so far as a result of the stoppage. But experts say the most serious damage is being done to its network of suppliers, many of whom are small and medium sized businesses.
The government is now facing calls for a furlough scheme to be set up, to prevent widespread job losses.
David Bailey, professor of business economics at Aston University, told the BBC: “There’s anywhere up to a quarter of a million people in the supply chain for Jaguar Land Rover.
“So if there’s a knock-on effect from this closure, we could see companies going under and jobs being lost”.
Under normal circumstances, JLR would expect to build more than 1,000 vehicles a day, many of them at its UK plants in Solihull and Halewood. Engines are assembled at its Wolverhampton site. The company also has large car factories in China and Slovakia, as well as a smaller facility in India.
JLR said it closed down its IT networks deliberately in order to protect them from damage. However, because its production and parts supply systems are heavily automated, this meant cars simply could not be built.
Sales were also heavily disrupted, though workarounds have since been put in place to allow dealerships to operate.
Initially, the carmaker seemed relatively confident the issue could be resolved quickly.
Nearly two weeks on, it has become abundantly clear that restarting its computer systems has been a far from simple process. It has already admitted that some data may have been seen or stolen, and it has been working with the National Cyber Security Centre to investigate the incident.
Experts say the cost to JLR itself is likely to be between £5m and £10m per day, meaning it has already lost between £50m and £100m. However, the company made a pre-tax profit of £2.5bn in the year to the end of March, which implies it has the financial muscle to weather a crisis that lasts weeks rather than months.
JLR sits at the top of a pyramid of suppliers, many of whom are highly dependent on the carmaker because it is their main customer.
They include a large number of small and medium-sized firms, which do not have the resources to cope with an extended interruption to their business.
“Some of them will go bust. I would not be at all surprised to see bankruptcies,” says Andy Palmer, a one-time senior executive at Nissan and former boss of Aston Martin.
He believes suppliers will have begun cutting their headcount dramatically in order to keep costs down.
Mr Palmer says: “You hold back in the first week or so of a shutdown. You bear those losses.
“But then, you go into the second week, more information becomes available – then you cut hard. So layoffs are either already happening, or are being planned.”
A boss at one smaller JLR supplier, who preferred not to be named, confirmed his firm had already laid off 40 people, nearly half of its workforce.
Meanwhile, other companies are continuing to tell their employees to remain at home with the hours they are not working to be “banked”, to be offset against holidays or overtime at a later date.
There seems little expectation of a swift return to work.
One employee at a major supplier based in the West Midlands told the BBC they were not expecting to be back on the shop floor until 29 September. Hundreds of staff, they say, had been told to remain at home.
When automotive firms cut back, temporary workers brought in to cover busy periods are usually the first to go.
There is generally a reluctance to get rid of permanent staff, as they often have skills that are difficult to replace. But if cashflow dries up, they may have little choice.
Labour MP Liam Byrne, who chairs the Commons Business and Trade Committee, says this means government help is needed.
“What began in some online systems is now rippling through the supply chain, threatening a cashflow crunch that could turn a short-term shock into long-term harm”, he says.
“We cannot afford to see a cornerstone of our advanced manufacturing base weakened by events beyond its control”.
The trade union Unite has called for a furlough system to be set up to help automotive suppliers. This would involve the government subsidising workers’ pay packets while they are unable to do their jobs, taking the burden off their employers.
“Thousands of these workers in JLR’s supply chain now find their jobs are under an immediate threat because of the cyber attack,” says Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham.
“Ministers need to act fast and introduce a furlough scheme to ensure that vital jobs and skills are not lost while JLR and its supply chain get back on track.”
Business and Trade Minister Chris Bryant said: “We recognise the significant impact this incident has had on JLR and their suppliers, and I know this is a worrying time for those affected.
“I met with the chief executive of JLR yesterday to discuss the impact of the incident. We are also in daily contact with the company and our cyber experts about resolving this issue.”
Getty Images
Getty Images
Coldplay
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Getty Images
Coldplay
