The long siege of Marks & Spencer’s food division by grocery rivals has not yet been lifted, but the defence is looking more confident and the fight is increasingly being taken to the opposition.

Marks & Spencer revealed last week that food like-for-likes fell 0.3% in the first half. While still in negative territory, there have now been four quarters of improvement in a row.

The retailer has mounted a series of highly successful raids into enemy territory, prompting reaction from its adversaries. Dine in for two for £10 and £5 meal deals have won custom, while the roll-out of branded foods brings the opportunity to target bigger baskets - even if such lines bring lower margin.

In the wake of its sorties, Marks & Spencer is now adopting a more aggressive stance. A series of price comparison ads targeting arch-rival Waitrose was a first for M&S, which goes into Christmas with the objective of increasing party food sales by almost a third.

But the most encouraging aspect of Marks & Spencer’s food sales improvement drive is a renewed emphasis on innovation. Food boss John Dixon intends to deliver 25% “newness” a year and this Christmas alone there will be 1,000 new lines. Dixon is at pains to point out quality as much as quantity of innovation is top of the agenda.

Marks & Spencer has already recovered more ground in food than some of its doubters expected. It looks likely that Marks & Spencer’s food arm will soon be posting positive numbers.

Private equity exits As private equity-backed retailers consider IPOs next year, investors will follow similar developments elsewhere before taking the plunge.

At the start of this month Australian retailer Myer pulled off its float. It started trading at 5.4% below the offer price. Early days admittedly, but better news for the private equity firms that exited than for new investors.

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