Christmas delivers up some cheer for traders

CHRISTMAS has come early for Edinburgh's biggest shops, with some of the city's top retailers reporting trade levels well up on this time last year.

John Lewis said business picked up dramatically last week, despite the UK's recent financial woes and the start of construction on Edinburgh's tram network.

Business groups believe that the "Open for Business" campaign to promote the city during the tram work has helped to boost Christmas trade.

Sales at John Lewis last week were 2.3 per cent ahead of the same week last year, and fully 10 per cent up on the previous week this year.

Department store rival Harvey Nichols said that, despite a "flat" October, it has had an extremely strong November, with footfall "considerably above" last year.

And the organisers of the Winter Wonderland, which includes the popular German Market, say more than 15,000 people attended the site over the first weekend - thought to be the busiest debut weekend yet.

Trams company TIE has agreed to pay £100,000-a-year to market the city as "open for business", targeting other Scottish cities in the run-up to Christmas.

Isabella Miller, general manager of John Lewis Edinburgh, said the retailers were working closely with TIE to help minimise disruption.

She added that the lights switch on and the recent cold snap had helped to "put Christmas in shoppers' minds".

Expensive technology like iPods, laptops, plasma televisions and "sat nav" devices are selling particularly well.

Gordon Drummond, general manager of Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh, said its performance had been helped by demand for handbags, cosmetics and accessories. He added: "From the middle of November we've really started to see a difference."

Nickie Gott, managing director of Winter Festivals organisers She's Gott It, said it had been an "incredibly busy weekend".

She said: "Winter Wonderland had its busiest first day ever on Friday, and one of the traders said he'd had his busiest weekend ever in 11 years of trading."

Graham Bell, a spokesman for Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "It is great that the large players like John Lewis and Harvey Nichols are doing well in Edinburgh and we would hope that would filter down to smaller firms as well.

"It was in everyone's mind that tram work could affect trade at such an important time and that is why a lot of time and effort went into preparing for that."

Willie Gallagher, executive chairman of TIE, said he was "delighted" that the face-to-face dialogue with retail, transport and tourism groups was paying off.

And Councillor Tom Buchanan, the city's economic development leader, said: "Edinburgh, with its array of festive activities and variety of retail offerings, continues to attract record numbers."

Thousands fear spectre of festive spending debt

THOUSANDS of people in Edinburgh are dreading the Christmas season, fearing they will run up huge debts, according to a new report.

Life assistance firm CPP Group said almost two-thirds of people in the city were not looking forward to Christmas, with many citing financial worries as the main reason.

A poll of 3000 people found that 62 per cent dreaded Christmas, while 82 per cent found shopping for gifts a stressful experience. It also found one in ten people had told friends and family they would get their gifts a bit late, while six per cent had been so short of money in the past they were forced to turn up empty-handed on Christmas Day.

The news comes as APACS, the UK payment association, estimated Christmas spending across the UK will top more than £53 billion - a rise of 4.2 per cent on last year. Nick Jones of CPP warned that people should also be aware of identity and card fraudsters over the festive season.

He said: "Debit, credit and online spending are all estimated to increase this Christmas and people should make sure they safeguard their personal information during the festive season.

"Filling stockings is a priority - but do it safely."