The Memoirs of Israel Sieff

"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. . . ."