The Home directorate was top of the tree as Christmas gifts and decorations drove sales at John Lewis in the seven days to 22nd November.

Home (+5pc) beat Fashion (+3pc) with milder weather hitting apparel lines and the launch a year ago of a new iPad impacting year-on-year sales in Electricals (-0.8pc).

Total sales across the 43 store retailer were up 2.1 per cent to £114.2m, with online delivering growth of 13.4 per cent.

John Lewis didn’t namecheck any furniture or furnishings categories in its weekly sales wrap, saying instead that seasonal goods such as baubles, decorations, tree lights, Christmas trees and hampers were big-sellers against last year — all of which fall within its Home umbrella.