Two retailers, two very differing fortunes. It was inopportune for Marks and Spencer that Associated British Foods, owner of cut-price clothing retailer Primark, chose to announce results on the same day. Primark boasted like-for-like sales up 4 per cent in the year to September 13, continuing its first-half trend, and operating profit up 17 per cent. At M&S, by contrast, pre-tax profits in the six months to September 27 fell by a third, with like-for-like sales down 6 per cent in clothing and homewares and 5 per cent in food.

The comparison has some similarities to the brouhaha in UK food retailing over the rise of “hard” discounters such as Germany’s Aldi and Lidl. Like them, Primark is growing fast from a smaller base. It targets a distinct group, “fashion-conscious under-35s”, with a heavy price emphasis. Hence it is a different beast to M&S – which aims at the whole spectrum of shoppers – and a natural beneficiary in the bleakest UK retail environment for 15 years. M&S is clinging to its market share in clothing, if not in food.