Marks & Spencer’s share of the market rose from 11.3% to 11.4% over the year while Primark’s leapt from 8.1% to 10.1% putting it in second place above Tesco and Asda.

There is likely to be quite a battling in the offing as Asda has recently thrown down the gauntlet (see previous article in Knowledgebase) to its competitors by stating that it aims to become the market leader in supermarket apparel by 2011.

Since 2006 Primark has been on a mission to increase the size of many of its superstores and has caused such a stir that customers have felt the need to queue up to gain access to new stores on the launch days.

The figures come from retail research company TNS Worldpanel Fashion and were compiled for Drapers.