At last, Stuart Rose has said it: the "R word". Marks and Spencer is finally in "recovery" after 30 months of the Rose treatment. "We are out of intensive care," said the retailer's chief executive, throwing out best-in-class Christmas numbers last week. "Now we have to get super-fit."

Of course, we all knew it a long time ago. Journalists had spent the past year pestering him to make the call, while the markets decided the moment had come seven months ago when the shares hit a 10-year high. But now, it is official. The darling of the British high street is back in business. After years of profiting from M&S's misery, it is now its rivals who are feeling the pain.