Marks & Spencer has been named the UK’s top brand for 2025 by YouGov, retaining the title it won in 2024. The annual survey awarded the retailer an overall index score of 53, with quality scoring highest at 66.6 across the six measured categories.
The rankings are based on twelve months of data measuring customer impression, quality, value, reputation, satisfaction and recommendation scores. M&S outperformed competitors including Cadbury in fourth place with 42.7, John Lewis with 42.2 in fifth position, Lindt at ninth with 38.6, and Yorkshire Tea taking tenth place with 37.9.
CEO Stuart Machin celebrated the achievement via LinkedIn, stating the retailer’s vision is to be the most trusted retailer whilst doing the right thing for customers with quality products at the heart of operations. However, he tempered celebrations with caution, noting trust can be lost quickly through single failures in delivery, poor store experiences or stock availability.
Machin emphasized the importance of remaining “positively dissatisfied,” acknowledging the business is only as good as its most recent customer interactions. He thanked colleagues for building trust with customers and customers for choosing to shop with M&S.
The recognition follows a strong performance year for M&S, which was named Marketing Week’s Brand of the Year in 2024 and saw its brand value increase by 38% to $2.47 billion according to Kantar’s BrandZ ranking. The retailer also attracted one million additional customers in its last full financial year.
M&S clothing division has shown particular strength, ranking first among high street fashion brands tracked by YouGov BrandIndex for consideration, ahead of Next and Primark. The retailer achieved a consideration score of 46.8%, significantly above Next at 34.8% and Primark at 30.1%.
The success comes despite challenges including a cyber attack in late 2025 that caused a £300m profit hit and forced the temporary pause of online shopping. The retailer subsequently announced marketing leadership changes with food marketing director Sharry Cramond transitioning to lead the clothing and home business.
