Marks and Spencer actually began life in Leeds back in 1894 when Michael Marks, a Polish refugee opened a market stall in Leeds with the slogan ‘don’t ask the price, it’s a penny’. In 1894 he went into partnership with Thomas Spencer, a former cashier and in 1904 Marks & Spencer opened their first shop in a covered arcade in Leeds.
The company are rightly proud of their history and heritage in the city and to celebrate it, they have a whole building dedicated to the company archives and on the ground floor, a lovely museum space for the ‘Marks In Time’ exhibition, which charts the history of their business, it’s products and its advertising.
The archive is actually located on the Leeds University Campus, in the Michael Marks Building, next to the business school. Whilst it felt a little odd taking a child on to campus, it was actually really pleasant. There is a lovely green space outside the building and even with lots of students around it still felt peaceful in comparison to the city centre.
Admission to the ground floor of the archives and the ‘Marks In Time’ exhibition is FREE and it’s a great, child friendly space. It took around 45 minutes to an hour to look around and consists of interactive displays of the clothing, food and household products Marks & Spencer has sold over the years, as well as the history of the company and it’s advertising. We were also able to watch some brilliant, if slightly non PC adverts from the 50’s and 60’s too.
There is a ‘Percy Pig’ trail around the exhibition where children need to spot the pigs and answer questions to win a goody bag. And once you’ve looked around, there is a small FREE tea and coffee area, with a couple of tables where you can stop for a quick drink. I also checked out the toilets and baby change which looked clean and modern, in line with what you get in their stores.
By far and away our favourite thing about the exhibition though was the children’s play area. There is a huge table with lots of colouring, a dressing up box of vintage Marks and Spencer clothes and lots of toys from the retailer too. It’s clean, modern and all on one level as well, so very safe. Mini-Mumbler spent nearly an hour playing there doing colouring, jigsaws and playing shops. So much so that she didn’t want to leave.
When we did make our way out though, there was a lovely gift shop at the entrance, selling lots of Marks and Spencer products. As a special treat we were given a goody bag of Halloween treats to take away with us from the shop. We can highly recommend the Percy Pumpkins (Percy Pig has been turned green and tastes of apple) and the Decorate Your Own Mummy Biscuits which we did when we got home.
I think it’s fair to say we had a great time at the archive. It’s small, so is somewhere to head for a couple of hours rather than a day trip. But it’s got excellent facilities for young kids and I found it really interesting. It would be a great meeting place for parents with pre-schoolers.
The only challenge we had was finding a parking space nearby, as a lot of the on-street parking is for permit holders only. I parked just off Hyde Park Road and it was a short 5 minute walk. Or it’s approx 15 minutes from the city centre. Any buses that pass along Woodhouse Lane or Burley Road would also be appropriate.
The Archive is open Monday – Friday: 10:00am – 5:00pm but is closed on Weekends & Bank Holidays. It’s open all year round including school holidays, except over Christmas. They also host regular events, talks and seminars. For more information visit the Marks In Time website here.
M&S Company Archive
Michael Marks Building
University of Leeds
LS2 9JT (sat nav LS2 9LP)
*Mumbler was not paid for this review, however we were given a goody bag containing sweets to take home with us. The opinions in the review are all our own and are open and honest.