Marks & Spencer to open all hours

MARKS & Spencer is to open some of its stores 24 hours a day over the Christmas period.

M&S - the last to accept credit cards and a laggard in Sunday trading - will be the first big clothing and general retailer to open all night.

It has followed the lead of supermarket groups. 'In areas where our competitors are open all hours, it makes sense to offer customers the same,' said a spokeswoman.

From tomorrow, its giant store in Camberley, Surrey, will open round the clock. A further 12, mainly big out-of-town outlets, will stay open until midnight from December 3, and later next month five more will switch to 24-hour trading.

Last week, M&S showed the long-awaited signs of recovery with the announcement of a 19% increase in pre-tax profits, and rising sales, for the six months to September.

Now, with an economic downturn looming, the High Street is gearing up for what will be one of its most fiercely competitive Christmas seasons yet.

But M&S is cautious about making festive trading forecasts after chairman Luc Vandevelde's rash prediction last year that 2000 would be the 'best Christmas ever'.

Instead, it turned out to be one of M&S's worst - and Vandevelde's over-optimistic comment has haunted him ever since.