M&S, Morrisons and The Co-operative all faced challenges this year, despite making huge gains in some areas.

Marks & Spencer has had a tough year, despite making improvements to its fashion lines

Morrisons pulled off one of the biggest deals of the year with its tie-up with Ocado in May. It is gearing up to launch online grocery in the New Year, and it managed to avoid the horse meat PR disaster.

However, like-for-likes dipped 2.4% in its third quarter, and it is still unclear whether its belated entry into online will help to turn its lacklustre performance around. In an increasingly competitive grocery market, Morrisons has been on the back foot for a while.

Marks & Spencer’s general merchandise team got rave fashion press reviews for its autumn and winter collections, revealed in May. But its underlying pre-tax profit was still down to £271m in the 26 weeks to September 28, compared with £287.3m in the previous year, highlighting how important it will be for the new lines to perform.

At the Co-operative, meanwhile, a crisis broke when former Co-operative Bank chairman Paul Flowers was filmed allegedly buying illegal drugs. The fallout looks set to continue throughout 2014.

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