Marks & Spencer has been named the UK’s top performing brand for the fourth year in a row, according to YouGov.

Published today (29 January), YouGov’s 2026 Best Brand Rankings is an annual index of the world’s “healthiest” brands, based on more than 6 million consumer interviews across 28 global markets.

The rankings assess overall brand health using YouGov’s BrandIndex, which tracks daily consumer perceptions across impression, quality, value, reputation, satisfaction and recommendation metrics.

In the UK, M&S topped the national rankings for 2026 with an index score of 52.7 – over seven points higher than the closest competitor. IKEA, Samsung, John Lewis and Netflix ranked second to fifth, followed by WhatsApp, Sony, Lindt, Boots and Cadbury.

The UK’s most improved brand was the Post Office, which recorded an 8.9-point year-on-year increase. YouGov attributes the uplift to rising satisfaction and improving public perception as the organisation continues to recover from the sub-postmaster scandal.

M&S breakdown

Marks & Spencer has retained its position as the UK’s healthiest brand since 2022, despite disruption from Covid, a change in leadership and last year’s cyber attack.

While profits more than halved following the hack – which the retailer estimates cost the business around £300m – M&S said it is “regaining momentum”.

In its interim results for the 26 weeks to 27 September, M&S reported adjusted pre-tax profit of £184m, down from £413.1m a year earlier. The figure includes a £100m insurance payout.

The retailer admitted being forced to pause online orders from April to June greatly impacted sales and trading profit in its fashion, home and beauty division, while food sales were affected by reduced availability.

Festive like-for-like food sales rose 5.6% in the 13 weeks to 27 December, with fashion, beauty and home sales down 2.9%. M&S reported a “record number of customers” shopped with the retailer for Christmas 2025.

Beyond the immediate commercial impact, YouGov data suggests the cyber attack had a limited effect on brand metrics. Reputation scores, which measure whether consumers would feel proud or embarrassed to work for a brand, rose 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 that time, with scores rising by 8.9 points between early 2019 and the end of 2025, a period spanning both the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

M&S ‘regaining momentum’ as profits more than halve

Improving quality perceptions while maintaining a strong value proposition has been a key focus for the retailer in recent years.

M&S has worked to refresh perceptions of its style credentials and engage customers in new ways since launching its ‘Reshape for Growth’ strategy over three years ago.

The 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, with the goal of boosting profitability and market share.

YouGov’s quality scores support this approach, rising 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.

Impression scores rose from 53.8 in 2019 to 62.9 by 2025 (+9.1). Customer satisfaction increased from 52.8 to 63 (+10.2), while recommendation scores – which track consumer advocacy – saw the largest uplift, rising from 44 to 55.8 (+11.8).

Global breakdown

Globally, 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”.