John Lewis boosted by England’s new term

John Lewis has continued to buck the trend of gloomy news from the high street, yesterday reporting a 7.1 per cent rise in sales.

The year-on-year increase in the week ending 3 September was described by the employee-owned group as “encouraging”. Schoolwear, electricals and fashion were singled out as particular highlights.

The partnership’s Trafford department store in Manchester was the top performer, recording an 18 per cent hike, closely followed by Glasgow with a 12.6 per cent gain, compared with a year earlier.

John Lewis’ sites in Edinburgh and Aberdeen posted more modest increases of 6.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.

Lesley Ballantyne, director of operational development, said: “After a slow start to the final week of the summer holidays, robust bank holiday Monday and mid-week trade resulted in a encouraging increase of 7.1 per cent.”

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “It should be borne in mind that John Lewis has consistently out-performed the overall sector and the likelihood is that this will prove to be a rare ray of sunshine in a still very unfavourable climate for retailers.”