The Memoirs of Israel Sieff

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"Israel Sieff was Simon Marks's partner for most of his life in Marks and Spencer, and their relationship was unique. Friends from boyhood, each married the other's sister. Each went into his father's business, and since (as Lord Sieff puts it) 'Simon needed a back wall against which to play his shots'--he moved a desk into his office for Israel Sieff, and Israel left his father's firm. This was in the twenties, and thereafter the success of Marks and Spencer--one of the great British business stories of the century-- became legendary. Lord Sieff tells it from the beginning, going back to the days of the elder Marks's first Penny Bazaar in Leeds--the market-day counter which was the first one- price, self-service retail operation in Britain. ('Don't ask the price, it's a penny.') Branches spread to Manchester, even as far as Cardiff. Marks's association with his accountant, Tom Spencer, began the famous name. . . ." FOREWORD. 1. My Family and its Origins. 2. My Childhood in Manchester. 3. My Youth, and Simon Marks. 4. The Beginnings of Marks and Spencer. 5. Secretary to Chaim Weizmann. 6. The State of Israel is Born. 7. As Weizmann's Man in Israel. 8. Simon Reshapes Marks and Spencer. 9. The Thirties: PEP. 10. War and Post-War. 11. Thinking it Over. INDEX.