Jingling tills to ring out a booming end to the year for our high streets

A LAST-MINUTE Christmas present dash is expected to give high streets a "Super Saturday" boost worth billions today.

- Robert Kellaway and Natasha Wynarczyk

Shops are expecting one of the busiest trading days of the year, plus a bumper day of business on Christmas Eve tomorrow.

Discounts website VoucherCodes estimates that 38 million people will splurge £3.31billion in stores and online, up 15% on last year. It is expecting £1.76bn in sales today and £1.55bn tomorrow.

Anita Naik of VoucherCodes said: "This year has been tough for retailers. They will be glad to hear there's going to be one more flurry of sales before the end of the year.

"While many people will be limiting what they buy in response to the cost-of-living crisis, the money they do have will be put into making this Christmas one to remember."

As well as gifts for loved ones, shoppers have been splashing out on high-end foods.

Christmas hamper specialist IMP & Maker, which offers luxury baskets costing up to £2,000, reported demand for its top range was up 900% on 2022.

The Lincolnshire-based firm's founder, Sarah Louise Fairburn, said: "This Christmas, big is most definitely better. Our clients have decided to celebrate in extravagant style and bring friends and family together to feast on the best possible array of delicacies."

The booming forecasts match earlier predictions from analytics firm GlobalData, which believes retail spending figures for the last three months of the year will hit £ 110 billion, up 3.4% on 2022.