Q&A: What's going on at M&S and what lies ahead for the retailer?

Marks & Spencer appeared to put its troubled past behind it today, as it reported its first quarterly sales rise in its clothing and homeware division for the first time in almost four years.

But how did it get itself into such difficulty in the first place? The Standard's retail correspondent Simon Neville explains:

M&S suffered from years of underinvestment, leaving its stores and supply chain tired and in need of an upgrade.

Chief Executive Marc Bolland did just that, spending billions creating a new distribution centre in Castle Donington and brightening up the chain's shops.

Despite the huge expense, the distribution centre encountered major problems during the critical Christmas trading period which meant it couldn't keep up with the orders placed.

And some have criticised the new look stores, saying the clothing isn't as nice as M&S is suggesting and that the retailer has lost sight of who its customer is.

However, its fourth quarter trading statement, which showed increases in both margins and non-food sales, indicated some progress has been made.

"This is certainly a step in the right direction," Bolland said.

M&S had the mammoth task of rebuilding its website from scratch. (Its original site was owned by Amazon.)

This immediately led to a fall in online sales in a period when all its rivals were seeing an uptick.

But now M&S is back in line with the industry trend and on track to see further digital growth.

Marc Bolland has been under pressure for some time and after the company's woeful Christmas performance, some investors said the Dutchman was on borrowed time.

But as the share price is holding up, the City seems happy for him to remain in place for now.