Stationery chain Ryman has toasted a robust Christmas trading performance after it announced like-for-like sales were up 1.7% over the festive period.

The 237-store group is owned by Dragons' Den entrepreneur Theo Paphitis and he also hailed improved revenues for his Robert Dyas general store business and the Boux Avenue lingerie brand.

Robert Dyas, which has 96 outlets, grew sales by 5.2% between November 1 to December 24 while Boux Avenue - launched in April 2011 - increased revenues by 20.2%.