British high-street retailers are bouncing back, according to September figures from a national accountancy firm, BDO. Comparable sales grew by 3.5 percent that month, in part thanks to heavy storms at the end of the month that prompted consumers to buy winter clothing. Fashion alone grew by 3 percent. Last year, sales had fallen by 5.1 percent in September because of a heat wave. Sectors outside fashion, including gifts and leisure and beauty and luxury, grew by 7 percent compared with last year. Homewares was the only category to fall, down by 5.3 percent. BDO says that it will have a better handle of high street retailers' performance after October figures are in, but it expects the apparent turnaround to continue through the Christmas holidays. The BDO High Street Sales Tracker looks at non-grocery stores with annual sales of £5 million (€6.2m-$8.0m) to £500 million (€619.9m-$804.4m).

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