Mid-sized retailers enjoyed a decent Christmas with both sales and margins improved, according to BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker.

Total sales were up 2.4% for the members of BDO’s index, with fashion up 2.5% and non-fashion up 3.6%. The first two weeks of December were particularly strong with many retailers reporting double digit increases, but sales growth tailed off, particularly for fashion retailers, due to bad weather and department store discounting.

Homewares sales were down 1.6% over the month, but some retailers reported a surge of demand for big-ticket items, particularly in the final week of the month ahead of the VAT increase. Online sales for the group, which comprises mostly store-based retailers, doubled.

BDO head of retail Don Williams said margins had improved as well as sales. “Full priced and new season stock was much more apparent this December with many stores trading with lower levels of discounted goods. While this had some negative impact on volumes, it did help drive an improvement in gross margins.”