Sales at John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store group, improved last week, boosted by a strong performance in electrical goods.

Today’s positive update from the high street bellwether will bring some cheer to retailers after bleak figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed a 0.6 per cent fall in sales between April and May.

John Lewis said sales for the week to June 13 rose 2.8 per cent ahead of the same period in 2008.

Electricals and home technology sales surged by 8.2 per cent year-on-year, which bodes well for Kesa, the owner of Comet, and DSG International, which owns Currys and PC World.

Both companies have been struggling amid the decline in discretionary spending and will update the market on recent trade next week.

In contrast to electrical sales, John Lewis reported only a 0.3 per cent rise in fashion sales, while the home department was down 4.6 per cent.

David Barford, a regional selling operations director at John Lewis, said the performance in electricals was “stunning”, adding that fashion showed resilience against a tough comparison with the same week last year, which included Father's Day.

Sales at Waitrose remained robust, rising 6.1 per cent, boosted by a 20 per cent surge in trade of the supermarket group’s entertainment range, after a series of newspaper promotions.

Overall, sales for the John Lewis partnership, which include the department store and the supermarket chain, rose by 4 per cent.

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