VS Series
M&S v Waitrose
Premium food, two very different owners
M&S leads on 5 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. M&S is the biggest by turnover at £17,274m, against £7,767m at Waitrose. M&S keeps more of every £100 it takes, £2.11 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. M&S files group accounts that include subsidiaries; Waitrose files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: M&S to Mar 2026 · Waitrose to Jan 2026
Who they are
M&S
Marks and Spencer Group plc · 04256886Marks and Spencer (M&S) is a retailer selling food, clothing, home and beauty products, mostly under its own M&S label.In brief: retailer · own-label food, clothing and home · own stores, online and international franchises · listedFull profile →Waitrose
Waitrose Limited · 00099405Waitrose is a UK supermarket chain selling food, drink and groceries, with a focus on quality and own-label ranges.In brief: supermarket chain · own shops and online delivery · own-label ranges · employee-ownedFull profile →The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M&SMarks and Spencer Group plc | £17,274m | +25.0% | £365m | 2.1% | 73,301 | £33,000 | £236,000 | £3,056m | £997m | Mar 2026 | Group |
| 2 | WaitroseWaitrose Limited | £7,767m | +6.9% | £111m | 1.4% | 44,900 | £26,000 | £173,000 | £718m | £71m | Jan 2026 | Single company |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
The Takeaway
- M&S converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £2.11 reaches pre-tax profit, against £1.43 at Waitrose.
- M&S is the largest on the top line, £17,274m of turnover, 2.2x Waitrose's £7,767m.
- M&S is growing fastest, turnover +25.0% on its own prior year.
- M&S is the biggest employer with 73,301 people; M&S pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £33,000.
- M&S has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £3,056m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
M&S keeps the most: £2.11 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Waitrose keeps the least, £1.43.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is M&S (£17,274m), Waitrose (£7,767m).
By headcount, M&S leads with 73,301 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 2 months of each other. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
M&S grew fastest, turnover +25.0% on its own prior year, ahead of Waitrose (+6.9%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
M&S employs the most, 73,301 people, against 44,900 at Waitrose.
M&S has the highest average staff cost, about £33,000 a head; Waitrose the lowest, about £26,000.
M&S brings in the most turnover per employee, about £236,000, against £173,000 at Waitrose. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Owned by its shareholders
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register.
Who owns M&S →
Waitrose Limited · 00099405Held by John Lewis Plc
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 3 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Waitrose →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | M&S | Waitrose |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP P.L.C. | WAITROSE LIMITED |
| Company number | 04256886 | 00099405 |
| Incorporated | 2001 | 1908 |
| Accounts filed | 24 July 2026 | 14 May 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £13,817m | £7,267m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £512m | £138m |
| Staff costs | £2,445m | £1,151m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 14.2% | 14.8% |
| Employees, prior year | 73,333 | n/d |
| Dividends paid | £77m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 0 | 3 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
M&S v Waitrose: common questions
Who is the biggest of M&S or Waitrose?
M&S, with turnover of £17,274m in the year to March 2026.
Which makes the most profit?
M&S: £365m pre-tax in the year to March 2026.
Which employs the most people?
M&S, with 73,301 employees in its latest accounts.
M&S or Waitrose: which is bigger?
M&S, with turnover of £17,274m against £7,767m at Waitrose on their latest filings. On margin, M&S keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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