MARKS and Spencer will sell branded products for the first time, with trials of the rival goods being held in the North- East, it was revealed yesterday.

About 350 leading brands will be stocked on shelves alongside its own-make products in 19 M&S stores across Tyneside and Teesside.

Brands including Stella Artois and Smirnoff alcohol, KitKat and Mars chocolate, and Persil and Colgate cleaning products, will be stocked from next month.

If the four-month trial proves popular, it will be expanded across the UK, the company said yesterday.

M&S - which yesterday announced annual profits had topped £1bn for the first time in a decade - said the North-East had been chosen for the pilot scheme because it offered a good representation of the cross-section of customers using its stores nationwide.

Chief executive Sir Stuart Rose said the group had its "particular place" in the food market which it wants to maintain, but the move is about delivering for the changing expectations of customers.

He said: "People say, Stuart, your food is fabulous, but by the way, my Johnny likes Marmite, or my husband likes Weetabix'."

The move is said to be a "very significant step" for the store, which has always prided itself on being a own-branded food store, but increasingly comes under pressure to fight off leading rivals, supermarkets and online shopping.

Yesterday, M&S announced it saw a 1.5 per cent drop in like-forlike food sales over Christmas, and a fourth quarter 0.5 per cent decline in same-store food sales.

It has carved a name for itself as a premium food outlet in recent years with a high-profile "this is not just food, this is M&S food" advertising campaign.

The move also comes as M&S sets itself a tough target to achieve a five per cent market share, up from 4.3 per cent.

It also aims to provide a wider selection of goods and brands to the 21 million customers who shop in its stores across the UK every week, 400,000 ahead of last year.

Sir Stuart said that this year's early Easter and poor weather had led to volatile trading conditions, making it hard to pick underlying trends.

We are all finding it very difficult to read the tea leaves,'' he said, adding that the company remains a "strong business in a weak market".