National: Marston’s, which has 1,800 pubs, said trading at its premium and destination outlets in the key three week Christmas trading period to January 4 had been strong with growth of 3.3%, on top of the 5.8% rise a year earlier.

It served a record 55,000 meals on Christmas Day.

Locally Marston’s pub restaurants include the Raven at Ravenswood and the Mermaid in Yarmouth Road, Ipswich

Meanwhile Brewer SABMiller said lager volumes in the UK were up 9%, driven by increased distribution and better sales of Peroni Nastro Azzurro. Difficult conditions in the rest of Europe meant overall lager volumes were 1% higher in the final quarter of 2013, below City expectations.