John Lewis weathers the storm in style

Britain’s volatile weather has played to the advantage of John Lewis, which has notched up one of its biggest rises in weekly sales.

The employee-owned group reported a 26.5 per cent increase in takings across its department store business in the seven days to last Saturday as shoppers snapped up coats and boots to beat the autumn chill.

Freddie George, retail analyst at Seymour Pierce, said the “exceptional” increase reinforced hopes of a sustained pick-up in spending, helped by a post-Olympics feel-good factor.

“Recent data appears to indicate that retail sales have strengthened during September, partly due to easy comparatives, but also possibly due a pick up in consumer confidence helped by the successful Olympics,” he noted.

“There are also signs that consumers are now more open to taking out credit to boost their spending.”

Glasgow was among the partnership’s best-performing branches, recording a 16.3 per cent rise. There were gains of 5.2 per cent and 4.5 per cent for Aberdeen and Edinburgh, respectively.

Sales of women’s boots soared by 165 per cent and womenswear overall rose 49 per cent in the week, which saw a marked contrast in weather compared with last year’s Indian summer when temperatures in some parts of the UK hit 28C.

Across the first nine weeks of the chain’s financial year, sales were up 14.7 per cent, year-on-year.