The retailer has traditionally been an own-brand grocer but said it had added branded items such as Rummo pasta and Tilda rice to its ranges to maintain availabilities across “core cupboard staples” as customers continue to be confined to their homes.

M&S said that in some of its small stores it had adapted its product mix to focus on offering more “key staples” such as milk, breads, eggs and meat.

The retailer also followed the lead of many others in the sector by extending funding to enable its smaller food suppliers to access immediate payments to help keep them going during the ongoing health crisis.