LIVERPOOL One says it can beat the gloom on Britain’s high street this Christmas.

The boss of the £1bn shopping development yesterday brushed away fears of weak festive sales following the publication of the Confederation of British Industry’s latest retail survey.

The CBI survey showed sales volumes fell for the seventh month in a row during October.

A 27% balance of firms surveyed reported weaker sales in October than in the same month a year ago.

Although the result was on a par with September and bettered City forecasts of a further decline, retailers expect no immediate improvement in November despite this month’s 0.5% interest rate cut. A balance of 25% expect sales to fall next month.

Shoppers have been spooked by worries over the economy and mounting unemployment, the chairman of the CBI’s distributive trades panel, Andy Clarke, said.

“The sector looks set to endure a very challenging run-up to Christmas,” he said. “We are hoping the recent drop in interest rates will cut consumers and business some slack as it feeds through to the wider economy.”

Last night, Liverpool One chief executive Joanne Jennings insisted that the new development could buck the general gloom by attracting new shoppers from around the North West.

Liverpool One, owned by the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor property firm, is mounting a £1m marketing campaign which will start in early November.

A study by business information group Experian released last week showed Liverpool has surged 10 places up the UK retail league table to fifth place, with shoppers projected to spend almost £2bn in the city by the end of 2008.

John Lewis has also reported its flagship store exceeded its sales budget by 14% in the first three months of operation.

The majority of the budget will be spent on a TV campaign in the ITV Granada region and radio stations throughout the North West.

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