Sales hat-trick for Goldsmiths

JEWELLERY and watches group Goldsmiths buoyed the festive spirits of retailers with news of a record pre-Christmas sales bonanza in its shops. Trading in the four weeks to Christmas Eve was up 10.8% overall and 9.5% on a like-for-like basis.

That will fuel hopes that other retailers, many of whom have already reported anecdotal evidence of strong trading in recent weeks, will be delivering similar figures. Consumers' willingness to spend at record levels in the face of the global economic gloom and thriving High Streets are thought to have been key to Britain staving off recession, though there is concern about credit card debt.

Goldsmiths, the subject of an Alchemy-led management buyout in 1999, noted sales of Rolex watches and diamond jewellery were particularly strong. But more-cautious retail followers may be concerned that Goldsmiths' like-for-like sales for the year to 24 December were up 9.9%, meaning business in the final month was below the year's average. It was also less than the 11.5% growth recorded last Christmas.

But chairman Jurek Piasecki said: 'We are absolutely delighted with this performance, especially as we have beaten the overall sales records achieved in the previous two years.'