Michael Marks

Michael Marks (Polish: Michał Marks; c. 1859-1864 – 31 December 1907), was a Polish Jewish businessman, entrepreneur and one of the two co-founders of the British retail chain Marks & Spencer.

Marks was born into a Polish-Jewish and Belarusian-Jewish family in Słonim, in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire, now a town in Belarus. He emigrated to England around 1882 and moved to Leeds, where a company called Barran was known to employ Jewish refugees. He married Hannah Cohen at the Great Synagogue on Belgrave Street, Leeds, in 1886. His date of birth is unknown; his naturalisation papers say 1859, but his age on his marriage certificate suggests 1863 or 1864.

Marks met Isaac Dewhirst, the owner of a Leeds warehouse, in 1884. A deal was arranged whereby Marks agreed to buy goods from Dewhirst and sell them in nearby villages. The venture was a success and enabled Marks to raise enough capital to establish a stall in Leeds' open market. He also sold goods at Castleford and Wakefield markets.

Marks also made the decision to rent an area at the new covered market in Leeds, which traded six days of the week. Famously, one of his stalls sold goods that cost only one penny. Next to the stall was a poster with the words "Don't Ask the Price, It's a Penny". Over the next few years, Marks expanded his business and opened similar stalls in covered market halls all over Yorkshire and Lancashire.

In 1894, Marks decided that if he was to expand the business further he would need a business partner. He initially approached Isaac Dewhirst, who decided against the offer but suggested that his cashier Thomas Spencer might be interested. Spencer decided that the £300 (adjusted by inflation £30807) required for a half-share in the business would be a good investment.

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