Mountain Warehouse sees record Christmas after Black Friday sales

The outdoor retailer saw 1.5 million customers snap up over 150,000 padded jackets and 80,000 snow boots during the festive period

Customers snapped up 250,000 pairs of socks, 250,000 pairs of gloves over the festive period (PA Archive/PA Images)

Outdoor retailer Mountain Warehouse has notched up record Christmas trading, driven by a sharp rise in online sales and Black Friday.

The company said like-for-like sales rocketed 33.1 per cent in the six weeks to December 31, with online sales jumping 76.6 per cent.

Total sales rose 38.2 per cent and international revenue increased 43 per cent.

Mountain Warehouse founder and chief executive Mark Neale said Black Friday was the busiest day in the company's 20-year history.

"We had a cracking Christmas with remarkable growth across our UK stores, online and internationally," he said.

"A business which equips customers to brave the elements will always benefit when it snows, and the December cold snap was a bit of an early Christmas present for us.

"Another was Black Friday, with sales reaching £2m in a single day alone for the first time in our history."

The company served 1.5 million customers during the festive period, who snapped up more than 250,000 pairs of socks, 250,000 pairs of gloves, 150,000 padded jackets and 80,000 snow boots.

Mr Neale added: "The shape of Christmas has changed in recent years. It used to get gradually busier week by week from November onwards.

"More recently, since the Black Friday phenomenon came to the UK, there has been a spike in sales followed by a couple of quieter weeks and a late rush.

"This year, the bad weather meant we didn't really see much of a slowdown after the Black Friday stampede."

The firm, which has 270 shops, opened 30 more stores last year, creating 300 jobs.

Mountain Warehouse made pre-tax profits of £19.8m in the year to February 28 2017, up 22 per cent on the previous year, on sales of £184.8m.

PA