Online wine specialist Naked Wines has seen an 81 per cent surge in revenue during lockdown.

The rise came as the company released its financial report since moving its business entirely online with the sale of Majestic Wine and Les Celliers de Calais for £95million late last year.

The increase in sales covers April and May - the first two months of the fiscal year - and follows a profits after tax of £8.2million for the 12 months previously.

That compares to a loss of £9.4million the previous year.

Revenue increased by 13.7 per cent to £202.9million while losses before tax narrowed from almost £10million to £5.4million.

Chief executive Nick Devlin said: "I believe the enduring impact of COVID-19 will be to accelerate trends towards direct, online models in categories like wine."

Demand for home cooking ingredients helped Premier Foods - makers of Bisto and Mr Kiping - report a 20 per cent increase in sales since coronavirus restrictions were introduced.

The company reported a profit of £53.6million in the 12 months to March 28 as revenues rose 2.8 per cent to £847.1million.

Among the brands which have flown off the shelves in the last few months are Sharwood's and Loyd Grossman cooking sauces, McDougall's flour and Ambrosia custard and rice puddings.

Chief executive Alex Whitehouse said: "One of the most prevalent trends we have seen during the lockdown is that Britain has got cooking again, with particularly high levels of demand for items relating to meal preparation, including cooking sauces, gravy and baking ingredients."