There’s nothing like a little Tabasco to spice things up. Marks and Spencer’s decision to offer a selection of branded foods – including chairman Stuart Rose’s favourite hot sauce – alongside its traditional own-label staples is the latest twist in UK retailers’ cut-throat battle for high street customers. Sir Stuart hopes that carrying popular brands such as Kellogg’s and Kit Kat will eliminate the need for customers to schlepp over to Tesco or Waitrose to finish their weekly shopping. Making life easier for customers has taken on special urgency in recent months, with Waitrose planning to open hundreds of smaller shops that will compete head-on with M&S’s Simply Food convenience stores.

The embrace of outside brands marks a significant moment for one of the UK’s oldest retailers, which has built its food business around a successful line of premium in-store brands. However spicy, though, the move is likely to amount to little more than a blip financially. Investors should prefer to remain focused on blander but more substantial fare, such as a slower rate of decline in gross margins for food and clothing. These contributed to better-than-expected first-half results, which pushed M&S’s shares up 5 per cent on Wednesday.