Slow Christmas for retailers

Britain's retail sector has reported disappointing sales figures for the festive season.

The retail sector had an "underwhelming" festive season, said the British Retail Consortium. In December sales rose by 1.5% year-on-year. On a like-for-like basis, they gained just 0.3%. The internet saved the season: non-food sales rocketed by almost 18%, thus ensuring that overall revenue was up on last year.

Among supermarkets, Wm Morrison was the big loser. Department stores were winners: House of Fraser, Debenhams and John Lewis notched up record holiday sales, with the latter's expanding by 13%. New Look and Next also did well.

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