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Security report for staxtradecentres.co.uk

Stax Trade Centres Ltd · Retail · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

60/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

Stax Trade Centres Ltd operates as the largest non-food wholesaler in the UK, providing a wide range of over 45,000 products and 1000+ brands to retailers and tradespeople through five national branches and an online membership platform. The company positions itself as a professional wholesale solution supporting business success with competitive pricing and extensive product categories. The website is well-designed, mobile-optimized, and rich in relevant content including product deals, industry news, and customer testimonials, reflecting a mature digital presence. Technically, the site leverages modern web technologies such as React, Vimeo for video content, and integrates Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel for analytics and marketing. The site is served over HTTPS with no visible security misconfigurations, though security headers are not explicitly detected. Privacy and terms policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, but the absence of a cookie consent mechanism is a minor compliance gap. Security posture is generally strong with secure forms and no exposed sensitive data, but the lack of a published security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to domain registration errors, which introduces some uncertainty about domain legitimacy, though the website content and business information strongly indicate a legitimate and established UK company. Overall, the website presents a professional, trustworthy, and business-focused platform with good technical and security practices. Strategic improvements in security header implementation, cookie consent, and domain registration verification would enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching staxtradecentres.co.uk

This scan found 25 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
52
Security headers
20
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
60

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Stax Trade Centres holds a strong market position as the UK's largest non-food wholesaler, targeting retailers and tradespeople requiring a broad product range and competitive pricing. Their business model combines physical warehouse branches with an online membership system, facilitating trade account management and exclusive pricing. The company emphasizes customer service, supported by dedicated sales representatives and a comprehensive product catalog. Their marketing ecosystem includes active social media engagement and digital advertising via Facebook and Google platforms. The company is registered in England with a clear physical address, reinforcing credibility. Growth indicators include extensive product categories and ongoing promotional deals. The lack of WHOIS transparency is a minor concern but does not detract significantly from operational legitimacy.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and secure login/application forms. No sensitive data leakage or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options is a gap that could expose the site to certain web-based attacks. There is no publicly available security policy or incident response contact, which limits transparency and preparedness perception. GDPR compliance is partially evidenced by a comprehensive privacy policy but lacks a cookie consent mechanism. No vulnerabilities or malware indicators were found. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be improved with enhanced header implementation and published security governance documents.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and ePrivacy regulations.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Verify and resolve domain WHOIS registration issues with Nominet to ensure domain legitimacy and reduce risk perception.
  5. Consider adding a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure and improve security posture.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Stax Trade Centres Ltd
Registration number
2235950
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stax Trade Centres Ltd
Description
Stax is the largest non-food wholesaler in the UK, with five branches located nationally. They offer over 45,000 products and 1000+ brands, serving retailers and tradespeople with a professional wholesale solution.
Key services
Wholesale supply of non-food products, Trade account registration, Multiple warehouse branches, Product deals and collections, Customer support and sales representatives
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Vimeo (video player), Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Slick Carousel
Frameworks
React
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure login and registration forms

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM implied)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Facebook Pixel
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and no blocking detected.
  2. WHOIS data is unavailable due to domain registration error message.
  3. Website uses modern JavaScript frameworks and tracking technologies.
  4. Privacy and terms policies are present and comprehensive.
  5. No explicit security policy or incident response info found.
  6. Contact information is available including login and application forms.
  7. No cookie consent banner detected, which may be a GDPR compliance gap.
  8. Social media presence is active on major platforms.
  9. Website content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using React, indicating a modern JavaScript framework adoption. It integrates third-party services such as Vimeo for video content and Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel for analytics and marketing tracking. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and good navigation clarity. Performance is moderate, likely due to rich media content and multiple CSS assets. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or headless CMS solution. Accessibility features are basic but present. SEO optimization is good with proper meta tags and structured navigation. Technical risks include missing security headers and potential GDPR cookie consent gaps. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and scalable e-commerce wholesale platform.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

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