According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG sales monitor, the U.K. retail sales increased by an annual rate of 2.6% on a like-for-like basis in January, after a 0.1% rise in December.

On a total basis, retail sales climbed 3.3% year-on-year in January.

"Following on from a somewhat disappointing Christmas period for retailers, the new year kicked off to a strong start, with 3.3 per cent growth across all product categories and 2.6 per cent growth on like-for-like sales," BRC Chief Executive, Helen Dickinson, said.

"January's performance was driven by big-ticket items, in particular furniture, which is encouraging in the largest month of the year for the category," she added.