OUTDOOR clothing retailer Blacks Leisure showed it was back on track yesterday after reporting a strong sales performance over Christmas and New Year.

The group said like-for-like sales were 1.5 per cent higher in the eight weeks to January 14, offsetting the 4.8 per cent drop seen in October when warm weather hit demand.

Blacks owns Millets and the O'Neill brand, which has a distribution centre in Washington, Wearside, employing more than 100 people.

In the 20 weeks to January 14, sales were down 2.6 per cent on the previous year, although Blacks said it expected to perform in line with market expectations for the year to the end of February.