Sparks flies: how frumpy Marks & Spencer became fashionable again

Four years ago the venerable retailer fell out of the FTSE 100, suffering a humiliating blow to its prestige. But now it has turned things around

It's four years to the day since Marks & Spencer dropped out of the FTSE 100 for the first time since the City share index's 1984 inception.

It was a major blow for one of the UK's biggest retailers - and symptomatic of a series of existential problems it faced. Share prices were close to a 20-year low; annual profits had slumped to less than 100m. But for newly appointed company chair Archie Norman, these figures were far from the only concern. Upon taking up his position, Norman promised a radical shake-up to fix the drifting business.