After mixed sales figures were announced throughout the year, in addition to the rapidly fluctuating value of the pound in the post-brexit period, British Retail Consortium – KPMG Retail Sales Monitor reported that retail in December has seen a 1% rise on a like-for-like basis. The news comes after many analysts noted the slow start to the holiday period, but sales picked up as the month went on and the week up to Christmas out-performed the Black Friday period. Non-food items also saw a rise, increasing by 1.1% in the last month. This was a reversal of the trend from last year, as 2016 finished strongly in the retail sector.