Tablets boost John Lewis sales

Demand for tablet and netbook computers helped department store chain John Lewis to post an 8.9 per cent year-on-year rise in sales for the week to 28 January.

There were mixed fortunes for the Scottish branches though, with Aberdeen up 1.3 per cent but Edinburgh down 10.5 per cent and Glasgow 5.8 per cent lower.

Waitrose, the group’s up-market grocery chain, posted a 7.3 per cent rise, helped by an 18 per cent hike in veal sales following an episode of BBC1’s Countryfile programme that featured the meat.