The company set up by two Cheltenham businessmen to run a single town-centre bar a decade ago was sold last year for a staggering £26million.

Punchline reported in July of the deal made by hospitality giants Staonegate to purchase Bar Fever Ltd, the company set up by Mark Shorting and Nigel Blair in 2009.

In their first year of trading in 2009/10, documents filed at Companies House show the company turned over £70,750.

By the time of the takeover by Stonegate in early 2019, that turnover figure had risen to £25.931 million as the duo successfully expanded their business.

By the time of the takeover, Bar Fever were operating 32 trading businesses under the Fever, Boutique, Zinc and MooMoo brands and employing around 750 staff.

And according to the accounts filed by the Stonegate Pub Company, the value of that takeover has now been confirmed.

Notes in the report said: "On 22 January 2019, Stonegate Pub Company Ltd acquired the entire issued share capital of Bar Fever Limited comprising 32 trading businesses."

"... The bars are a strong fit with Stonegate's drink led strategy and compliment the geographical spread of the late-night division."

The notes added that the "purchase price was satisfied by a cash consideration of £26.894million.

"Post-acquisition to 29 September 2019 Bar Fever contributed £19,030,000 in revenue and £552,000 in profit before tax.

Stonegate are now the biggest pub company in the country, having agreed a deal to buy Enterprise Inns in a £1.2billion deal last year - a deal that has been cleared to go ahead by the Competitions and Markets Authority.

They will now operate around 5,000 bars and pubs across Britain, under brands such as Yates's, Walkabout, Slug and Lettuce as well as the Fever establishments.