CHRISTMAS brought cheer to most Salisbury traders and they've had a promising start to the new year.

That's the verdict of a survey carried out among retailers by City Centre Management in the wake of the festive season and new year sales.

Figures from the survey show that, of traders who responded, 61 per cent said their revenue was level with, or higher than the same period the previous year.

And that encouraging trend comes at a time when a number of national retailers have reported disappointing end of year results.

In an attempt to assess how Salisbury retailers fared over the Christmas and New Year period, City Centre Management sent out questionnaires to 120 national and independent city centre businesses to ask how they performed.

Results suggest that, even against a background of the recent interest rate rise and emerging reports of a tough year in retail, Salisbury is holding its own.

Not only did respondents report a good turnover during the Christmas period, but 14 per cent also said that their revenue was actually higher than that of other stores in their chain - despite a very sluggish start to trade in the run up to Christmas.

The survey also shows that most stores entered into the festive spirit, with 75 per cent of respondents saying that they opened both on the late night shopping Thursdays and on Sundays before Christmas.

"The extra trade achieved due to being open for more hours can only have increased the sales levels of many stores, while adding to the festive feel of the city for the shoppers," said a City Centre Management spokeswoman.

The survey also asked what changes should be made to Christmas arrangements for 2004.

Asked if the Christmas lights switch-on should be moved to December, 67 per cent said it should - commenting that shoppers simply do not feel festive enough in November. And more than half of respondents said they would like to see resources targeted on Christmas events and promotions in preference to the city's traditional springtime St George's event.