Guardian Life & Style (US) • Jan. 8, 2026, 8:26 a.m.

<p>Poor festive fashion sales deepen fears of squeeze on UK household budgets and falling high street footfall</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jan/08/marks-spencer-tesco-greggs-christmas-trading-house-prices-stock-markets-business-live-news-updates#maincontent">Business news – live updates</a></p><p></p></li></ul><p>Marks &amp; Spencer revealed strong sales of food over the important Christmas trading period but clothing sales fell back as it continues to battle the after-effects of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/03/inside-the-marks-and-spencer-cyber-attack-chaos">last year’s crippling cyber-attack.</a></p><p>Stuart Machin, the chief executive of the high street stalwart, said its clothing, homeware and beauty business was also affected by “fragile consumer confidence and milder weather”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/08/ms-christmas-food-sales-soar-but-clothing-suffers-from-cyber-attack-fallout">Continue reading...</a>

Related