KEVIN STANFORD, the retail entrepreneur, has increased his stake in Marks & Spencer — buying a further 5.9m shares in the beleaguered retailer.

The move — which increases the value of his stake to £50m — may well reignite takeover speculation, despite scepticism in many City circles.

Stanford insisted that the stake-building was purely an investment. “With the backing of the freehold property portfolio I can’t go wrong,” he said this weekend.

According to the M&S share register, Stanford bought a further 5.9m M&S shares between June 24 and July 13. In total, he now owns 13.9m shares — or nearly 1% of the troubled company.

Stanford also owns stakes in Moss Bros and Mulberry, the fashion brand.

Stanford bought his shares through Kaupthing, the Icelandic bank, sparking speculation that the group was being stalked by an Icelandic bidder.

A year ago, Stanford collected £120m after selling the fashion chains Karen Millen and Whistles to Baugur, the Icelandic investor that has been rocked by allegations of fraud.

He has retained close links to Baugur, which controls more than 1,100 shopping outlets in Britain. Baugur has been linked with a possible bid for M&S.

This month The Sunday Times revealed that Baugur had poached Charles Wilson, the No 2 at M&S, to run Booker, the cash-and-carry chain it bought this year.

Wilson is highly respected in the City and was instrumental in delivering more than £300m of savings at M&S.

Stuart Rose, the chief executive of M&S, was reported this weekend to be battling to persuade George Davies to remain as head of Per Una, the clothing business that M&S bought for £125m last year.

The defection of Davies would be a further blow to Rose.Per Una is the only successful part of the core M&S womenswear business.

Shares in M&S closed this weekend at 358p — a substantial discount to the 400p-a-share indicative offer from the retail entrepreneur Philip Green that was rejected by the M&S board almost exactly a year ago.

M&S has been losing market share to rivals and struggling to maintain its profits. The company has also been hit by debilitating boardroom rows. Successful trading in the run-up to Christmas is seen as crucial by analysts and investors.

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