H&M, Europe’s second biggest clothing chain, was on Thursday named as the continent’s most valuable brand, beating rival Zara and British chain Marks and Spencer.

The Swedish-based chain’s brand has a value of €10.37bn, according to the first ever rankings of European retailers by Interbrand, the brand consultants. It is well ahead of the rest of the pack, with runner-up Carrefour valued at €6.6bn.

Interbrand said retailers that had a strong own-label offer had in turn a more valuable brand, with three of the top five brands in Europe -- H&M and Ikea from Sweden and M&S from the UK -- only selling their own label in their stores.

Having a strong brand helps companies make a success of international expansion, according to Interbrand, since it acts as a “passport to create consumer demand in new territories,” says Jez Frampton, group chief executive of Interbrand.

H&M, Carrefour, Ikea and Tesco, which take positions as the top four brands in Europe, all have big international operations, while M&S, which is the fifth most valueable brand (worth €5.1bn) is poised to expand more aggressively overseas into China and India, having signed a deal with India’s Reliance Industries to sell food in the leading Indian conglomerate’s new chain of grocery stores.