MARKS & Spencer has got off to a flying start in the new financial year, shareholders were told at their annual meeting yesterday.

In the first quarter, sales in Britain had jumped by 8.6 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year, said chairman, Sir Richard Greenbury. Sales of general goods had risen by 9 per cent and food by 8 per cent.

The group's Brooks Brothers stores in the US had continued to do well, as had its outlets in Hong Kong although the trading environment in Canada remained "extremely difficult", he said.