A large but not overwhelming branch of UK perennial High Street favorite M&S. Considered one of their more significant stores, it usually has decent stock levels, along with a handy ordering desk to help you track-down the item you’re seeking.

My preferred section is Limited Collection - for stylish on-trend clothes and accessories - which could often compete happily with designer brands. The top floor has all their renowned lingerie ranges, categorised in relatively easy-to-find themed display units. However, in some respects it can get confusing here, from time-to-time, as they do like to move departments around.

Perhaps it’s a good thing to have the menswear together with home and interior items, in a separate store across the road; you have to be pretty determined to want to visit both on the same day, so it could be one way of limiting your expenditure or avoiding a battle with the other half…

Marks and Spencer is my favourite department store of all time. John Lewis may be better looking and Selfridges may be more posh but nothing can beat good old Marks in terms of good quality good value stuff. And the best M&S I've been to has to be the one in Kingston upon Thames. The Oxford street one is good but so big one tends to get lost in it. In Kingston they've solved that problem by splitting it into two stores on the same street - men's and women's. Very handy when you want to prevent your other half wandering off to look at ties while you're in the fitting room! The women's store is very well laid out over four floors (if memory serves me right) and though usually busy, is never overcrowded. there are always staff available to help and they also offer a personal shopper service. They have a special wedding section with beautiful gowns for the guests as well as the bride. And of course there is a really wide selection of clothes for all occasions in all sizes. This is the only place I'd go to buy clothes for myself.