Winemaker Gusbourne has reaped the benefits of lockdown wine nights this past year, despite the hospitality group battling lower trading sales.

The group’s net revenue rose by 28 per cent to £2.11m, up from £1.65m the year before the pandemic pushed people’s social lives to their sofas.

The winemaker’s share’s lifted 1.22 per cent in this morning’s London trading, taking its share price to 83p per share.

Gusbourne enjoyed a 10 per cent lift to total sales throughout the pandemic, while global sales rose 33 per cent in the year to 31 December.

However, the group was hammered by reduced brick and mortar trading, as the winemaker reported that its UK sales fell 37 per cent, down from 61 per cent in 2019.

“We were two months into the financial year when it became clear the ramifications of Coronavirus were going to be serious, and barely a month later before every hotel, restaurant and non-essential retailer in the UK had been ordered to close its doors,” chairman Jim Ormonde said.

After strong revenue growth, the winemaker enjoyed a 35 per cent five-year compound annual growth rate in its net revenue, up four per cent from 2019.

The winemaker saw demand increase slightly across Asia and had export success in Nordic countries, the chairman said.

The reduced sales pushed the winemaker to increase its capacity at its wine tasting operations in Kent.