**M&S Named UK's Top Performing Brand for Fourth Consecutive Year**

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has retained its position as the UK's top performing brand, according to YouGov's 2026 Best Brand Rankings. For the fourth year in a row, M&S has topped the national rankings with an impressive index score of 52.7, significantly surpassing its closest competitor by over seven points.

The annual index, which assesses overall brand health using YouGov's BrandIndex, tracks daily consumer perceptions across six key metrics: impression, quality, value, reputation, satisfaction, and recommendation. With over 6 million consumer interviews conducted across 28 global markets, the rankings provide a comprehensive snapshot of the world's "healthiest" brands.

In the UK, M&S is followed by IKEA, Samsung, John Lewis, and Netflix in the top five spots. The Post Office has been named as the most improved brand, with an impressive 8.9-point year-on-year increase, largely driven by rising satisfaction and improving public perception following a period of turmoil.

Despite facing significant disruptions, including a cyber attack that saw profits more than halve to £184m in its interim results for the 26 weeks to 27 September, M&S is "regaining momentum." The retailer has reported a "record number of customers" shopped with them for Christmas 2025, with festive like-for-like food sales rising 5.6% and fashion, beauty, and home sales down 2.9%.

Crucially, YouGov's data suggests that the cyber attack had a limited impact on brand metrics, with reputation scores rising from 38.9 in 2019 to 45.6 at the end of 2025, an increase of 6.7 points. Value-for-money perceptions have also strengthened throughout this period, with scores rising by 8.9 points between early 2019 and the end of 2025.

M&S has been working to refresh perceptions of its style credentials and engage customers in new ways since launching its 'Reshape for Growth' strategy over three years ago. This multi-year transformation plan aims to modernise the business through a shift to high-productivity, digitally enabled stores, greater investment in trusted-value products, and an expanded online presence.

The results of this approach are evident in YouGov's quality scores, which have risen from 59.9 in 2019 to 65.8 by the end of 2025 – up 5.9 points. This suggests that improved value perceptions have not come at the expense of standards. However, the strongest gains were recorded across impression, satisfaction, and recommendation metrics.

On a global scale, WhatsApp topped the rankings with an average index score of 41.5, driven by particularly strong performance in India and Indonesia. Samsung ranked second, supported by a strong quality score of 47.2. YouTube, Google, Adidas, Nike, Netflix, Dettol, Colgate, and Toyota complete the global top 10.

The results highlight a clear global pattern, with technology brands continuing to attract high levels of consumer trust and affinity. According to YouGov CEO and co-founder Stephan Shakespeare, this year's best brand rankings "highlight the companies that have enjoyed lasting consumer appeal" over the last 12 months, while the domination of tech brands reflects how "deeply digital platforms are embedded in daily life."