Marks & Spencer (M&S) is a British retailer, with 760 stores in more than 30 countries around the world. It is one of the most iconic and widely recognised chain stores in the UK with 520 stores, and is the largest clothing retailer in the country, as well as being a multi-billion pound food retailer. Most of its shops sell both of these categories. It also has a third line of business selling homewares such as bed linen, but this is far smaller than the other two.

In 1998 it became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion, though a few years later it plunged into a crisis which lasted for several years. As of 2007, it was growing again and rapidly increasing profitability.