Britain’s biggest department store John Lewis posted a 2.3 rise in sales for the week before Christmas, perhaps an indication of a strong performance across the board for the retail sector.

Sales at John Lewis rose 2.3 percent in the week to 26th December, bringing the total figure up to 3 percent for the year to date. It’s sister store Waitrose also posted good results, seeing a 10 percent rise in the week before Christmas.

Being the only major British retailer to publish sales figures on a weekly basis, John Lewis provides the industry and investors with a up-to-date information on how the sector is performing. John Lewis added that, due to the timing of Christmas, this data doesn’t include Boxing Day sales figures and is therefore a little different to last years’ – the traditional sale started online on Christmas Eve, but stores did not reopen until 27th December.

Managing Director Andy Street said of the figures:

“We are now in the final week of our peak trading period with Clearance in full swing across our shops and online, and we are seeing customers continue to enjoy our reductions across fashion, home and electricals and home technology.”

31/12/2015