Food sales record cheers Marks and Spencers

High street giant Marks & Spencer said today that it had overcome the severe weather over Christmas after recording its biggest ever day in food sales.

The retailer said big-impact promotions helped food sales achieve a record of more than £50m (€60m) on December 23, while UK like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to January 1 grew at a better-than-expected 2.8%.

The results come amid a mixed run for UK retailers – after HMV, Next and Debenhams all posted a slump in sales over the Christmas period.