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Retail sales strongest in four years

Jan 12 2010

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December sales showed the strongest year-on-year growth since 2005, says the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Overall, UK sales rose by 4.2 per cent compared to the same month last year, with internet and mail order sales climbing by 26.5 per cent.

Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC, says: ‘These are stronger figures than we dared hope for. After a surprisingly muted November, this is the best total sales growth for a December since 2005 and goes well beyond just making up for the sales fall the sector suffered a year ago.

‘The figures were certainly helped by the comparison with last December's terrible results but customers clearly felt more confident about spending than they have for some time.’

According to internet body IMRG, online sellers saw an uplift of 29 per cent in Christmas Day sales compared to last year.

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