Marks and Spencer is a very old British retail store chain, dating back to Victorian times, which became famous for supplying the nation’s underwear for anyone from Royalty to chambermaids.

In recent years it has fallen on hard times, largely because it was regarded as old fashioned by many younger women, and dated even by the middle-aged.

However, in the past two years, under the guidance of Stuart Rose, it has rebuilt its fortunes. The store company now wows the public with its ultra-classy, yet populist TV adverts. The secret? Fifty-something model Twiggy, the darling of the 1960s cool scene.

The formula is simple. Take an old 1960s song in its original version and parade the ever-young Twiggy together with a few other younger women in M&S’s new fashionable clothes range.

Result? Huge reverse-exodus back to M&S. Their current adverts are probably the only ones on UK TV that viewers look forward to. And the company’s bottom line is booming.

Who says fifty-something women don’t have sex appeal?