Best ever Christmas week for House of Fraser

The chain followed the lead of rivals such as John Lewis and Next by posting like-for-like sales growth of 7.1% for the eight weeks to January 2, including its best ever Christmas week and a Boxing Day sales jump of 27%.

It also hailed a 33% rise in sales for its "House" labels, such as Linea, Kenneth Cole, New & Lingwood, Howick and Episode. Women's fashion accessories were up 20% and menswear up 12% on a like-for-like basis, it added.

Chief executive John King said the performance reflected ongoing efforts to improve the business, such as through store refurbishment activity and efforts to develop the popularity of the own-brand products.

He added: "It was pleasing that we had our biggest ever Christmas week and Boxing Day, with some of our stores, such as Oxford Street, experiencing their strongest ever performance."