> Without growth and innovation, we can’t keep our vital staff who connect more than 10 million .UK domains and maintain our service without disruption or downtime. »

They had all of their growth and innovation, and couldn't keep their own basic website up (before being posted to HN) [1].

Presumably it was, as you say, a justification.

[1] https://twitter.com/444rrrggghhh/status/1374103065889026053