by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Deep snow hit sales at Bluewater on Friday but things have picked up strongly since then, according to a store boss.

Simon Russell, managing director of John Lewis Bluewater, said that after three record-breaking weeks, the store had been "hammered" on Friday, even though takings were still twice what they would be on a normal day in Spring.

They were up 40 per cent on the same day a year ago.

Overall visitor numbers at the centre are thought to have slumped by about 10 per cent on Friday, but since then, the store had enjoyed double figure increases on Saturday (sales up 12 per cent on the same day a year ago) and Sunday (up 14 per cent). Those figures exclude takings from the new Food Hall.

"We might have had a bit of migration from the Friday to the Saturday," said Mr Russell. "The roads were much better on the Sunday. We noticed a big surge in the first hour of trading on Sunday and it was very busy on Monday.

"On Tuesday there was a good start and we are expecting double figure increases. We should be well up on the week."

He added: "We’re still positive, the snow hasn’t kept too many people away and, fingers crossed, we will have good conditions between now and Christmas Eve.

"It’s a record-ever Christmas for us by some margin. Retailers are a pessimistic bunch but I can’t complain at all this year, it’s been fantastic."

Mr Russell praised Bluewater management for their handling of the weather situation and the way they cleared snow from the approach roads. "The roads in the centre were better than the roads I’ve been driving on to get here," he said. "The centre management had their team out from midnight on Thursday night and working right through the nights. They did a fantastic job."

Meanwhile, John Lewis has announced it will be delaying price rises on account of the VAT increase, due to take effect on New Year’s Day, to February 1. Mr Russell said that forward orders were strong and he thought the Bluewater store would do better than some experts suggest because of the recent multi-million pound investment in the store.

Forward orders suggested that January sales should be fairly strong. But he warned that consumer confidence "would not be quite where it seems to be at the moment".