

It entered into long-term relationships with British manufacturers, and sold clothes and food under the " St Michael" brand, which was introduced in 1928. Marks and Spencer, known colloquially as "Marks and Sparks", or "M&S", made its reputation in the early 20th century with a policy of only selling British-made goods (it started to back down from this policy in the 1990s). Representation of historic store from the 1930s, Bekonscot model village, UK In May 2021, the company announced plans to close another 30 shops over the next 10 years as part of its turnaround plan. On 18 August 2020, M&S stated that they would cut 7,000 jobs over the next three months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. On, it was confirmed that over 100 stores will have closed by 2022 in a "radical" plan.

The company also began to sell branded goods such as Kellogg's corn flakes in November 2008. In recent years, its clothing sales have fallen, whilst food sales have increased, after axing the St. In November 2009, it was announced that Marc Bolland, formerly of Morrisons, would take over as chief executive from executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose in early 2010 Rose remained executive chairman until July 2010 and then chairman until January 2011, when he was replaced by Robert Swannell. In 1998, the company became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion, although it then went into a sudden slump taking the company and its stakeholders by surprise. It also offers an online food delivery service through a joint venture with Ocado. M&S currently has 959 stores across the UK, including 615 that only sell food products and through its television advertising, asserts the exclusive nature and luxury of its food and beverages. M&S was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index it had previously been in the FTSE 100 Index from its creation until 2019. Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home products and food products.
