Festive cheer for New Look after challenging year The company, owned by private equity funds Apax and Permira, said that UK sales for the five weeks to December 31 had risen 3.4pc, excluding VAT, or 3.6pc like-for-like. The festive cheer came after a difficult year for retailers, with New Look's UK sales for the financial year-to-date down 1.7pc excluding VAT, and 3.7pc like-for-like. New Look said that trading conditions had remained "challenging" but that multi-channel shopping initiatives such as a new 'click and collect' service had helped sales. Alistair McGeorge, executive chairman, said: "Our online business continues to grow strongly and customers now have the choice of whether to buy online via their PC, their smart-phone or in store through a new till system, rolled out across our branch network during 2011. Our recent performance demonstrates that our hard work is beginning to pay off and we are pleased that both sales and profitability are responding positively. We are nevertheless mindful that we are operating against a backdrop of a tough and potentially worsening economic climate and remain cautious about the outlook for the next few months. Simon Chinn, lead consultant at Conlumino, said that New Look's results for the Christmas period had "mirrored to some degree" those of other clothing specialists and that the chain had not discounted as heavily as some struggling retailers. He added: "Clothing sales in the months before Christmas were generally weak due to the weather. In December, people that had not thought about buying clothes were out in the shops anyway, and picking up a bargain.