Ladybird's Adult Books Give Foyles A Boost

Foyles has said it was "very happy" with its Christmas sales, after a new take on a traditional book series dominated its bestsellers list.

The long-standing bookseller saw a 4.7% like-for-like increase in sales during the festive period across its stores - the majority of which are in London.

Seven of the 10 most popular titles were part of the Ladybird Book for Grown-Ups collection, where the publisher parodied its wholesome children's books by offering genteel guides to hangovers and hipsters.

Rounding off the top 10 was another spoof learning guide, We Go To The Gallery, along with the 2015 Private Eye Annual and A Brief History Of Seven Killings by Marlon James.

According to Foyles CEO Paul Currie, the sales increase was achieved without any significant discounting - and was "particularly pleasing" as the average price of each book sold had fallen by 2.15%, in part because the Ladybird titles were £6.99 each.

Mr Currie also said there had been a "challenging retail environment" of late - especially in London's West End, as footfall had dwindled following the Paris terror attacks.

Last month, the managing director of Waterstone's, James Daunt, told Sky (LSE: BSY.L - news) 's Ian King it had been a "pleasing year" in publishing - with his book chain staging a healthy fightback and returning to profitability.

However, he conceded that it would be "extremely worrying" if Amazon was to open a physical bookshop in the UK, a venture which the online giant recently embarked upon in the US.