Ted Baker has unveiled strong Christmas sales driven by online and continued international expansion. 

The fashion and lifestyle brand said retail sales jumped 9% year-on-year in the 8 weeks to January 6 — 10.5% on a constant currency basis. 

Its online sales rocketed 35% and represented nearly a third its total sales. 

The retailer steamed ahead with its international expansion during the period, opening new stores in Montreal, Malaysia, Mexico and Qatar and further concessions in Germany and Spain. 

Boss and founder Ray Kelvin warned that “challenging” trading conditions looked set to continue but said that Ted Baker is in a strong position to thrive. 

He said: “The Ted Baker brand has continued to perform in line with expectations over the Christmas period, delivering a good retail performance driven by particularly strong growth from e-commerce, which is an increasingly important part of our retail business.

“Whilst external trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the year ahead, the strength of our brand and business model means that we remain well positioned to continue the long-term development of Ted Baker as a global lifestyle brand.”

The retailer, which is due to unveil interim results on March 22, said gross margins were in line with its expectations and it expects to end the year with a “clean stock position”.