Storm Emma: Pubs and sledge-sellers enjoy bumper sales

A Cardiff toy shop enjoyed a bumper few days as families bought sledges and took to the slopes

Pubs, local shops and sledge-sellers have emerged as the main winners after Storm Emma caused widespread disruption to businesses across Wales.

On Friday, CBI Wales praised the resilience of businesses and staff working hard to stay open, while warning lost work days and sales could cost companies "millions of pounds".

But the owner of a toy shop in Cardiff hailed the snow as a "miracle" after selling about 1,800 sledges and one Cardiff pub doubled its usual takings on Thursday and Friday.

Phillip Kay, owner of Toys 'n' Things on Wellfield Road, Cardiff, had hundreds of sledges left over from the last major snowfall about five years ago.

The 61-year-old, who also runs a wholesale business, said he started selling the sledges on Thursday as the snow fell.

By Friday word had spread on social media and people were walking from all over Cardiff to buy them and being sent from other businesses to collect them.

"We had them from five years ago in storage, we must have sold about three in the last five years," he said.

"On Friday we took about as much money as we did in the whole of February."

Anecdotally, Cardiff was not the only place where demand for sledges outstripped supply. In coastal Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, residents took to the town's hills on surfboards and bodyboards, as sledge stocks dwindled.

Soldiers were on hand to help one of Owens Group lorries out of the snow at Magor services on the M4

For many businesses, the heavy snow spelled bad news, as workers stayed home and treacherous conditions scuppered deliveries.

On Friday, Mike Plaut, chairman of the CBI Wales, said: "We've really lost half of Thursday and all of Friday. Businesses just can't afford that. People aren't buying things, people aren't spending money."

Llanelli-based hauliers Owens Group said the extreme weather had cost them tens of thousands of pounds.

Springboard, which measures retail activity, said footfall for shops had dropped at least 40%.

But while many were counting the cost, sledge-sellers were not the only ones making the most of Storm Emma.

Barry dairy owner Gareth Jones switched to a Land Rover to get supplies around the Vale of Glamorgan

Gareth Jones, of Jones Dairies, Barry, had to keep his milk floats off the roads, but won customer plaudits as he used his Land Rover to deliver supplies to shops around the Vale of Glamorgan.

"It's the first time since 1978 we've had to cancel the milk floats," he said.

As schools closed and workers stayed home, social media posts around Wales suggested pubs were some of the biggest beneficiaries.

Dai Dearden, manager of the Grange pub in Grangetown, Cardiff, said takings on Thursday and Friday were more than double the normal level.

"People who struggled to get to work managed to get to the pub. It was a fantastic community atmosphere - we had families in, young and old people, a full range of local customers.

"Food-wise we got close to running out, but a couple of our suppliers managed to get to us.

"Our beer stocks have run lower than usual, but we just about scraped through."