John Lewis hots up

JOHN Lewis yesterday said its sales figures matched the improvement in temperatures as "pent-up customer demand" led to an 11.1 per cent rise in turnover in the week to last Saturday.

The department store chain reported that over half its 28 outlets improved on last year's sales, with trading on Saturday particularly strong. The previous week's sales figures showed a 1.4 per cent decline as snow and ice kept shoppers away during its peak clearance week. John Lewis director Andrew Murphy said: "Once the temperature began to rise, so too did our trade."

In Scotland, the stores fared less well, with Edinburgh dipping 0.3 per cent last week, Glasgow falling 3.5 per cent and Aberdeen recording a 5.8 per cent decline.