Marks and Spencer PLC is a major British multinational retailerwhich is headquartered in the City of Westminster, London. It specialises in the selling of clothing, home products and luxury food products. Marks and Spencers was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds initially selling out of a permanent stall in Leeds' covered market. Marks and Spencer began to expand from this point to open market stalls in many locations around the North West of England and move the original Leeds Penny Bazaar to Manchester.
Following continued expansion through to the 1990's the company became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion in 1998. Following this peak the company then went into a slump due to the rising cost of its British based suppliers and its refusal to allow credit cards to be used in store until 2001.
Marks and Spencers Bank offers a huge range of financial services and products including current account and ISA's as well as car, travel, house and pet insurance.