Online Sweet Store Owner Reports Significant Losses Due to Prolonged Internet Outage

The proprietor of an online sweet store has stated he incurred losses of “thousands of pounds” after his internet and phone services became inoperative. Justin Alexander, who owns Marley’s Confectionery, situated in Buxhall, Suffolk, reported that a lorry struck a telegraph pole on November 6, leading to the service disruption. He indicated that the incident impacted at least four businesses and approximately 10 residents. Openreach, the entity responsible for the UK’s digital network, expressed regret for the delay and affirmed it had “done the majority of the work already,” emphasizing that reconnecting individuals to the network was a “priority.” Mr. Alexander mentioned that the lack of internet and a phone line had “completely killed trade,” compelling him to work from home during evenings where internet access was available. The businessman also noted that he had to keep some staff off work due to a lack of tasks, as significantly fewer orders had been received. Mr. Alexander estimated his trade losses at “tens of tens of thousands of pounds in trade as people can’t get in touch with us.” Mr. Alexander conveyed feeling “fobbed off” by Openreach regarding the delay, adding: “We’re not in the Highlands of Scotland.” An Openreach spokesperson stated: “We are sorry for the delay here, it’s taking longer than we’d hope to get things sorted and understand how frustrating that is for local homes and businesses. “We’ve done the majority of the work already, including replacing one of our poles, after the previous one was badly damaged. “Our engineers now need to connect people living nearby back to the network, and this is a priority for us and will happen as soon as possible.”