Why Marks & Spencer topped YouGov’s Best Brand Rankings in the UK – again

YouGov’s Best Brand Rankings 2026 measure which companies have the highest Index scores: a brand health metric that averages Impression, Value for Money, Recommend, Reputation, Satisfaction, and Quality scores.

Our data shows that, for 2026, Marks & Spencer (M&S) has again topped the UK table, and, with a score of 52.7, comfortably so. While its 2026 performance has been impressive –the second ranked company is some 10.1 points behind – at this stage, it may be worth taking a longer view of the retailer’s public perceptions.

M&S has had an uninterrupted reign as the UK’s healthiest brand since 2022. So how has its public perception progressed in recent years?  Let’s explore some of the underlying metrics driving the retailer’s success over the past half-decade.

M&S has had an eventful few years. Since 2019 it has faced the COVID-19 pandemic, a CEO transition, and last year’s ransomware cyber incident (one of a few that have hit UK retailers in recent times, and which took a chunk of the company’s profits). But it has also been an era of change for the organisation: one it acknowledged with its “Reshaping M&S for growth” strategy in October 2022. If its strong 2025 profits and its return to the FTSE 100 are indicative of commercial success, the movements in  underlying scores over the past six years might suggest that the strategy has also been a success in terms of brand perception.

Metrics such as Value for money, for example, have seen improvements of some 8.9 points between the beginning of 2019 and the end of 2025: a period which saw a pandemic and a cost of living crisis tighten consumer belts. Quality scores have also risen from 59.9 to 65.8 over the same period (+5.9), suggesting that an improvement in perceptions of Marks & Spencer’s bang for buck has not been accompanied by a decline in standards. Reputation scores, which track whether consumers would be proud or embarrassed to work for a particular company, have also risen from 38.9 to 45.6: an uptick of 6.7 points.

But the most significant improvements have been to M&S’ Impression, Satisfaction, and Recommend scores. Impression scores, which measure overall likability, have been trending upwards, moving from 53.8 at the beginning of 2019 to 62.9 by the end of 2025 (+9.1). Customer Satisfaction scores have risen from 52.8 to 63.0 – a jump of 10.2 points – and Recommend scores, which track consumer advocacy, have performed event better: improving from 44.0 to 55.8 (+11.8).

M&S’ status as the UK’s best brand for 2026 is not just a matter of strong performance over the last calendar year (although that does not hurt). It is ultimately reflective of ongoing strong performance for the better part of a decade. Audience interviews from YouGov BrandIndex Voices highlights some key parts of the brand’s appeal: one panelist said they felt the retailer was “superior in its products to most other stores”; another said there “weren’t many stores like M&S left.” AI analyses of these interviews reveals a broadly positive store experience, specifically highlighting the cleanliness of M&S locations, the presentation of the products, and the helpful, friendly nature of the chain's employees

So the serial winner of our Best Brand Rankings in recent years has done it again. The question now: Will the brand repeat the feat this time next year?

BrandIndex methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Marks & Spencer's Index score is an average of Impression, Value, Quality, Satisfaction, and Recommend scores. Index score is reported as net scores from –100 to +100, based on daily surveys of U.K. adults.

YouGov BrandIndex Voices methodology: Qualitative analysis for Marks & Spencer comes from YouGov BrandIndex Voices. AI-powered interview conversations and analysis uncover the ‘why’ behind consumer opinion and explore the themes that consumers want to talk about. Responses were collected from a minimum of 100 adults in the U.K. who have a positive impression of the brand between January 2-9, 2026. This analysis was completed with AI, AI can make mistakes.