Marks and Spencer to sell products for a penny

Marks and Spencer was celebrating its 125th birthday today by going back to its roots as a penny bazaar.

The high street giant is staging a three-day bazaar selling a range of 20 products which can be bought for just 1p.

The commemorative range, which includes jewellery sets, scarves, purses and underwear as well as cufflinks, ties and socks, comes in the week the retailer slashed its dividend payment by a third as it reported a 40% drop in full-year profits.

Model Twiggy, who fronts M and S's advertising campaigns, will open the penny bazaar at the company's flagship store in Oxford Street, London.

The bazaars take place at more than 300 main M and S stores. Other items up for grabs include leather passport holders and luggage tags, tea towels, mugs, retro sweets and drinks, beach toys and beach balls.

M and S chairman Stuart Rose said: "M and S has been at the heart of Britain for 125 years and we believe that this is something worth celebrating.

"It has been a tough year for us all but people are fed up with being fed up and we wanted to give our customers a real treat."

The company says it has around two million of the penny products available, but once they have sold out there will be no more.

The 1p price tag is a suggested minimum donation for the items and all the money will go towards the company's birthday charity, the 125 Charity Challenge.

Rose added: "M and S started off in life as a penny bazaar back in 1884, so what better way to share our birthday with our customers than offering them the chance to choose M and S products for just one penny?

"We have got two million one penny products available, but my best advice to our customers is to get to M and S stores as early as you can, as we are sure this is going to go down a storm."

The company is also selling a new book, Marks in Time, which charts M and S's journey from a market stall at Leeds' Kirkgate Market to the international retailer it is today.

During grim times for the retailer, M and S said yesterday heavy discounting and price reductions in the recession had seen profits slump to £604.4m (€687.9m) - leaving behind last year's triumphant result when profits jumped above £1bn (€1.13bn) for the first time in a decade.

Rose said the year had been "difficult", but added: "It has not got any worse."

Like-for-like UK sales for the full year to March 28 were down 5.9%, including a 6.9% drop in general merchandise and a 5% decline in food.