Political uncertainty because of Brexit and the first December general election in almost a century, plus a strong Black Friday at the end of November, are among the factors that have affected trading this golden quarter. However, retailers are gearing up for what they hope will be a “massive” final few days helped by today’s payday for many consumers.

Week-on-week footfall is expected to peak 10% higher tomorrow, ‘Super Saturday’. That will also be up 3% on the same Saturday last year, though that is against a weak comparative.