Harry helps to conjure up big Ottakar's sales

The latest Harry Potter novel has boosted sales at Ottakar's by a magical£1.5 million.

Ottakar's thanked staff for their contribution to the figures. Employees arranged a host of special activities, which helped to shift more than 120,000 copies from Ottakar's shelves.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix lifted like-for-like sales from what would have been 5.2 per cent to 7.9 per cent for the 23-week period to July 12.

According to Ottakar's, sales at the 24 recently-acquired Hammicks stores rose by 6.4 per cent. Rebranding to the Ottakar's fascia will be complete by September.