The owner of some of Norwich's most popular bars, pubs and clubs has toasted a buoyant festive period.

Eastern Daily Press: Popworld, which opened in Norwich in the autumn Credit: Ella WilkinsonPopworld, which opened in Norwich in the autumn Credit: Ella Wilkinson (Image: Archant)

Stonegate – which owns the Be At One chain as well as the Lamb Inn, in Orford Place, and new club Popworld in Prince of Wales Road – saw sales growth of 7.8% across the business in December.

And both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve proved to be bumper days with an average sales spike of 8.3%.

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Boxing Day also saw punters propping up the bar with many enjoying festive football coverage.

Stonegate said it reaped the rewards of an investment in pre-booking facilities, including creating a central call centre hub to handle reservations.

Boss Simon Longbottom said: 'Our like for like sales have increased again driven by our multi-format strategy, relentless focus on customer service and bolstering our market share in our local markets. Our success shows that there is value in a drinks-led, high street focused strategy.

'Encouragingly, all of our trading formats and regions performed well and it was particularly pleasing to see the sites and brands we acquired in 2018 contributing to this.'