Employees at Chester-based M&S Bank are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Marks & Spencer Financial Services.
The business launched its first product, the M&S Chargecard, in April 1985, employing just 80 people at the time. Today more than 1,500 people work at its head office on Chester Business Park, making it one of the region’s major employers.
M&S took a staggering 270,000 applications for the M&S Chargecard within the first three weeks of its launch.
Having evolved from a card provider to a full service bank, M&S Bank now services circa. 3.7m customers across its range of financial services products, including the M&S Current Account, which launched in May last year.
In addition, M&S Bank customers also now have access to a network of bank branches, which are located in M&S stores, including the M&S Cheshire Oaks store.
Sue Fox, CEO of M&S Bank, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating our 30th anniversary and I’m thrilled that the business has grown so much over this time.
“We’ve evolved from a successful card business to an award-winning full service bank, offering customers the same service, quality and brand values they’ve come to know and expect from M&S.”
In 2014, M&S Bank was shortlisted for the Which? Awards in the best banking brand category.
Already this year, M&S Bank has been named Best New Current Account Provider in the Moneynet awards, and the M&S Current Account has also been awarded a five-star rating from Defaqto and Which? Recommended Provider status.
