A late flurry of shoppers helped John Lewis, the department store chain, weather the Christmas period with flat like-for-like sales, offering some hope that the expected retail bloodbath will not be as bad as feared.

John Lewis said on Monday that sales for the five weeks to January 5, excluding the impact from new stores and the cut in VAT, were flat. Sales including the impact of new stores but discounting the VAT change were up 2.4 per cent.