Post-Xmas sales break records

Austerity, what austerity? Britain's shop tills have been celebrating bumper sales. Boxing Day shoppers saw a 21% lift in numbers compared to last year; it's estimated that around £4.3bn has been spent in the last two days. So a positive end to a fairly dire year. Unfortunately, several high street names still remain on the critical list, despite a - brief? - post-Xmas lift.