One of Britain’s most succesful retailers has moved into the finance sector with the opening of a bank branch inside its Birmingham High Street store.

Marks & Spencer has opened its first Midlands bank at its 58 year old store in the city centre, which has undergone a major refurbishment and created 20 new jobs.

The M&S Bank, which opens on October 11, will be open during store opening hours, including evenings and weekends.

The existing in-shop M&S Bureau de Change has been re-designed and moved from the first to the second floor to integrate with the bank.

M&S Bank will offer two accounts – the M&S Premium Current Account with insurance for a monthly fee of £20 for a minimum 12 month period and the M&S Premium Current Account without insurance for a monthly fee of £15.

The accounts have an automatic £500 overdraft, with the first £100 interest-free and no additional overdraft fees.

In addition, there are no default or return fees associated with the accounts.

Colin Kersley, chief executive of M&S Bank, said: “Our branches have been designed around the needs of our customers, offering them the style of banking they want, available at times to suit their busy lifestyles.”

The Birmingham branch will offer customers a new pager service – meaning they do not have to queue and wait for an advisor to become available.

If a customer wants an appointment, they will be given a pager and alerted as soon as an advisor is free, so they can continue to shop or visit the M&S Café.