Introduction The Christmas season marks the start of a shopping frenzy for most consumers in the market as they seek to purchase gifts for the family, peers and colleagues for the occasions of Christmas and New Year. The UK retail market as a result sees an increased volume of sales and turnover in this period. The retail industry specifically deploys specialist marketing strategies aimed at increasing the volume of sales through discounts and special offers in the UK. The dissertation undertakes a study that compares the sales/ marketing strategies and the performance of the retail businesses during the Christmas season in UK. The two companies that have been targeted for the purpose of the study include Marks & Spencers and House of Fraser. The study examines the sales and growth performance of these two companies while also determining the marketing strategies that companies have used to facilitate their increasing sales. The Aim of the Dissertation The aim of the dissertation is to provide insight into how retail businesses and similar organizations fare in terms of their performance and growth during the Christmas season in the UK. Christmas season marks the highlight of the shopping calendar for most in the UK with retailers offering new range of collections, products and services as well as high levels of discounting to their customers during the Christmas season to attract sales. This increases the revenue and the profits for the retail businesses through volume. The research aims to compare the performance of Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser to determine the successful strategies that can be used by other retailers in the UK to increase their sales and profits during the Christmas season. Marks & Spencer Marks & Spencer is a well known retailer in the UK that provides its customers with a wide range of products n the categories f home, lifestyle food and merchandise products. “Marks and Spencer Group (M&S) is a leading retailer of clothing, foods and home ware in the UK. The company operates in about 41 countries worldwide with UK as its primary market. It is headquartered in London, UK and employs about 75,000 people.” (‘Company Portfolio: Marks & Spencer Group Plc’, 2008) The company has a business structure based on the geographic presence of the company in the worlds. However the UK based operations are categorized as per the business functions that take the form of food and general merchandise. The food division at Marks & Spencers provides grocery based as well as cooked and packaged food / edible items to the consumers. The general merchandize division consists of the clothing section that provides apparel and fashion products for men women and children, and the furniture and home wares section that provides the customers with lifestyle and home improvement/décor products. The strengths of Marks & Spencers include its string market position, kits string brand equity and the strengthening growth and expansion in the international markets. The weaknesses of the company pertain to the declining overall sales in the UK as compared to the other international markets and the weak cash position of the company. The threats that are faced by the company include intense competition in the retail industry, the increased minimum wages in the UK and the gradually decreasing con