Retail chain Dunelm has bucked a weaker homewares market by reporting like-for-like sales growth of five per cent for the past half year.

The same-store sales improvement in the 26 weeks to June 27 compared with growth of 2.3 per cent seen after the first 17 weeks of the trading period. Dunelm said its “simple value for money” offering helped it cope with tough trading conditions.

Chief executive Will Adderley said: “The homewares market has declined in the last 12 months, but consumer spending does not yet appear to have been squeezed to the extent that many commentators were anticipating.”

New store additions meant total sales grew by 10.7 per cent in the half-year, resulting in total sales of £423.7m for the financial year - a gain of 8.1 per cent.