Burberry blames 'difficult' London for poor growth

Burberry once again blamed difficult retailing conditions in London for a 'sluggish' trading performance in the UK.

The luxury goods group recited a litany of woes, such as congestion charging and the wrong weather, for its trademark macs having depressing third-quarter sales.

Burberry Group grew sales by 15 per cent in the third quarter to December, with underlying retail sales up 11 per cent - driven by store openings.

However, lacklustre UK sales, including cannibalisation from the new Knightsbridge store, cancelled out strong performances in the US and Asia to deliver like-for-like growth of 1 per cent.