Retail sales bounced back in February after a tough January on the High Street, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed.

UK retail sales recovered month-on-month by 2.2 per cent in February after January's tough weather conditions that kept people away from the High Street, the British Retail Consortium said.

In January, like-for-like sales dropped more-than-expected 0.7 per cent due to cold weather and return of VAT to its pre-recession level of 17.5 per cent.

Clothing brand George is offering a 100-day returns policy to customers on it product range through Asda to outdo other rivals in the market.

The company competes with Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Primark and others in the clothing segment. It said that it has invested around 40m in the quality and durability of its products in the 18 months.

Waitrose boss Mark Price is determined to double sales and marketing share over the next decade as the supermarket chain is planning to open a number of new stores.

Waitrose's MD Mark Price aims to push sales up from £5 billion now to £10 billion and market share from 4.3 per cent to around 8 per cent by 2020.

The Group has plans to open new stores, build partnerships and introduce new products. Mark Price said that there is great potential for 23 stores in the United Arab Emirates.

High street retailer Marks & Spencer is going to broaden its ethical and environmental commitments to become the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015.

M&S has announced 80 new commitments under its 'Plan A' eco programme and said it would start implementing them within the coming five years.

The company said it would convert 50 per cent of its food, cloths and home items to ‘Plan A’, which was launched in 2007 and included 100 commitments in areas such as climate change and sustainable raw material.

Troubled retailer Blacks Leisure has postponed recovery measures after Mike Ashley's Sports Direct, which on Monday acquired 28.5 per cent stake in Blacks, threatened that it would not approve a planned £20 million fundraising.

Blacks Leisure wants to raise capital to renovate its old stores, open new stores and cancel its higher-interest bank facility of 7.5 million pounds. Blacks Leisure has plans to raise 22 million pounds but it requires 75 per cent of the shareholder vote to go on with its fundraising plans.

A two-week week campaign underlining the benefits of Fairtrade goods was designed to promote Fairtrade products. The foundation is working hard to urge potential customers to switch to Fairtrade products.

The staff emphasized on the advantages of using Fairtrade products compared to other products.

“The response from customers was fantastic. The event raised the profile of Fairtrade products”, remarked Store Manager Kevin Lomax.

The IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index in UK has recorded the slowest annual growth rates in the history of the Index.

It reported that online shoppers spent £4.3bn in January 2010, a mere 5% more than the previous January.

While, the online sales registered a slip by 22% between December 2009 and January 2010, which online retail trade body the IMRG said was higher than the usual seasonal drop.