Fresh record week for John Lewis as Christmas nears

DEPARTMENT store chain John Lewis has chalked up a second consecutive week of record sales as shoppers stock up on iPads, Lego and other items ahead of Christmas.

Turnover for the week to Saturday grew by 11.1 per cent year-on-year to £147.8 million, beating the previous week’s haul of £142m.

Online sales also hit a high of £43.1m last week, beating the £42m total reached in the previous week, which had been buoyed by £7.3m on “mega-Monday”, the single best-selling day for the chain’s website.

Maggie Porteous, head of selling operations at John Lewis, said: “With a further nine shopping days before the big event, it is excellent news to have already had two record weeks, both over £140m for the first time.”

The employee-owned company added that other gifts proving popular in the run-up to Christmas have included the Nook e-book reader, the Kurio tablet computer for children, Creed and Tom Ford fragrances for women, Clarins and Gucci gift sets and silk chemises and robes.