This group is using existing research interests to develop connected projects which will maximise use of the Marks and Spencer Company Archive. This important resource will open at the University of Leeds in November 2011. Marks and Spencer has already given financial support for two doctoral research students. The first holder of the M&S Scholarship is Josie Freear who is investigating the social history of food using the M&S Company Archive and other retailing archives. The second doctoral student will be looking at sustainability and will begin research in September 2011.  The work of the M&S group embraces research, teaching and knowledge exchange, pursuing interests in consumption, international trade and retailing, fashion and design, and ethical trading and sustainability. The group is also fully engaged in the impact agenda, for example by taking research findings to the business and to the local community and its schools, and this dimension will form part of the 'Realising Impact and Innovation in the Arts and Humanities' Transformation Fund project.

Background

In the autumn of 2011, the M&S Company Archive will move to the newly constructed 'Michael Marks Building' on the campus of the University of Leeds. The opening of the company's archives to scholarly use will provide exciting opportunities for historical research. While business history may be the most obvious beneficiary, other historical disciplines will find rich resources among the collections.  Historians of dress, fashion and design, for example, as well as those interested in the environment and sustainability, in cultures of consumption, and in advertising and marketing will be drawn to the newly -opened archives. The archival material consists of artefacts (garments, images and packaging, for example) as well as the written record. The material is comprehensive from the late 1920s and especially after the Second World; and the enthusiasm of early directors for implementing innovative methods of record keeping has resulted in the collection of excellent statistical material which will permit the exploration of patterns of sales, the relationship between retailer and customer; labour turnover; financial performance; efficiency of growth of store network; and range and nature of products provided to a growing mass market.