A NORTHWICH retailer enjoyed record breaking sales thanks to Black Friday.

The Hut Group, Europe’s fastest growing online Health and Beauty retailer, doubled its sales from last year.

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States and is regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

In recent years the annual shopping bonanza has spread to UK shores, with major retailers offering huge discounts to get people to part with their hard-earned cash.

Matthew Moulding, chief executive and founder of The Hut Group, said: “I’m pleased to report a successful Black Friday, delivering 95 per cent growth in sales compared to Black Friday last year.

“This performance was underpinned by both the operational execution of our people and the quality of our operating platform in delivering a first class customer experience across the globe.”

The Hut Group, which are based in Rudheath, own a number of online retail sites and brands such as Myprotein, Lookfantastic, and Skinstore and IdealShape.

The group’s sales continue to grow rapidly internationally, with Black Friday customers outside the UK representing over 66 per cent of sales compared with 48 per cent last year.

They also saw a 56 per cent increase in new customers compared to 2015.

The Hut Group saw more than three million unique visitors to its websites in 24 hours, selling more than 3,000 items per minute in peak hours.

Across its beauty websites, the group sold 19,000 kilos of shampoo and conditioner on Black Friday alone – enough to power 1.9 million showers.

Myprotein sold 1.5 pouches of protein per second in the 24 hour period and the equivalent protein found in 350,000 steaks.

After investing heavily in 2016, the group are now looking to expand their reach even further.

Mr Moulding said: “We’ve invested £230 million this year to deliver a step change across our infrastructure, launching two brand new purpose built Manufacturing and Distribution Centres (UK and USA), and significant expansion of our HQ campus in Cheshire, as we created over 1,000 new jobs in the year.

“We are well placed for 2017 and plan to make similar substantial infrastructure investments over the next 12 months, which should support future growth and significant new job creation.”