Harvey Nichols department store in London saw sales rise after they followed the principles of feng shui and altered their escalators:

"SALES have shot up at a top department store after a Feng Shui expert told them to reverse their escalators.

Harvey Nichols turned to Eastern philosophy after a slow time at the tills in January.

Hairdresser Charlie Miller - who runs a salon in the swish Edinburgh store - suggested changing the directions the escalators travel.

He's an expert in Feng Shui, the belief that the layout of a room as 'energy' can have an emotional impact on people.

A store insider said: 'The managers here have a lot of respect for Charlie and, when he suggested switching the escalators, they agreed to give it a go.

'It's the cheapest sort of refurbishment you can make and, after a slow customer response during the January sales, they were keen to do something.'

Feng Shui expert Chi Wing said: 'If escalators are facing the door, that is bad - because the flow of the energy will be too quick.

'If they are facing a window, that is bad too - because the energy will escape."