Tesco beats Christmas retail blues with strong sales rise

Supermarket records best festive sales performance in nearly a decade

Tesco has emerged as one of the winners of the Christmas period, reporting its best growth in nearly a decade, while other major retailers such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer suffered.

Britain's biggest retailer posted 2.2% growth in UK like-for-like sales in the six weeks to 5 January, its strongest Christmas performance since December 2009. Sales rose 0.7% in the 13 weeks to 24 November.