This morning, I visited Morrisons in St Albans. A fairly unremarkable opening, I grant you, especially in what feels like a quiet news week, but stick with me.
I chose to go early, just before Easter, when the usual panic buying begins because shops have the audacity to close for 24 hours. Heaven help anyone forced into a last-minute dash to a petrol station for a chocolate egg.
By 8.30am, I was in store. I did my shopping and, rather reluctantly, opened my More card app, continuing to buy into the supermarket’s pricing system. That was when the issue arose.
After scanning my items, I was informed there was an IT problem and the More card system wasn’t working.
Call me old-fashioned, but if a price is offered and cannot be honoured, there should be a contingency plan.
This is where Morrisons, along with many large organisations, falls short. There is too much reliance on technology and not nearly enough thought given to what happens when it fails.
After a frustrating exchange with a supervisor, I spoke to the manager, who appeared equally unsure, repeatedly checking his phone for guidance. To his credit, he admitted I had a point — I may well have shopped elsewhere had I known. I suggested they put up a clear sign to warn customers arriving at the store.
Keen to resolve things quickly, he offered a discount and agreed. Shortly after, an A4 notice was placed on the automatic doors.
Naturally, each time the doors opened, the sign was obscured. Customers walked straight past it, completely unaware, highlighting how poorly the solution had been thought through.
Watching this unfold, it struck me that Morrisons is far from alone. The absence of a meaningful Plan B when systems fail is widespread.
In schools, for example, almost everything is now computerised. Registers, timetables, communication with parents — all depend on IT. Yet ask what happens when those systems go down and the response is often vague at best. We carry on, until we can’t, and then we improvise.
And failure does happen — regularly. Yet rather than properly addressing the root issue, it is patched over and quickly forgotten until the next disruption.
That is the real concern. In 2026, we have built systems entirely dependent on technology while ignoring the inevitability that it will fail. Without proper contingency planning, we are left repeating the same mistakes and wondering why something so predictable continues to catch us out time and time again.
- Brett Ellis is a teacher from London Colney.
Share