Portmeirion soars on Spode and Royal Worcester deal

Portmeirion's bargain basement purchase of pottery brands Spode and Royal Worcester from administrators last year has paid off big time.

The maker of Botanic Garden crockery paid £2.2 million for the brands last April but in the following eight months they added £8.5 million of extra sales - £1.5 million more than predicted.

Portmeirion's chairman, Dick Steele, said: "This has transformed the group. The potential of the Spode and Royal Worcester brands is huge and we are especially delighted to be able to produce Blue Italian, which has been in existence for two centuries, again in the UK."

In a rare example of manufacturing returning to the UK from the Far East, two of the major patterns acquired are being made in Stoke on Trent with the firm taking on 43 new employees last year.

Pre-tax profits more than doubled from £1.4 million to £3.9 million on the back of revenues up 36% at £43.2 million in 2009. The dividend goes up 7% to 15.8p a share.

Steele said that sales in the first two months of the year had been 40% up on a year ago.