It’s in the bag for Mulberry as high demand leads to a second factory

Lifted by strong trading in Asian markets and a 30 per cent rise in sales from 45 stores and department store concessions in the UK, Mulberry reported a 54 per cent jump in profits to £36m for the year to March 31.

While sales growth has slowed in the weeks since then, Mulberry will press ahead with recently announced plans to open a second factory in Somerset in a move creating 300 jobs and doubling its UK capacity.

The £7.5m project in Bridgwater, being supported by the Regional Growth Fund, comes less than a year after it completed the extension of its existing factory at Chilcompton, Somerset, creating 60 new jobs.

Revenues rose 38 per cent to £168.5m over the last financial year, helped by new stores in New York and at Westfield Stratford, near the Olympic site.

The company’s best known product of recent times has been the Alexa bag – inspired by style icon Alexa Chung – while in recent weeks it has launched the Del Rey bag, which is inspired by American artist Lana Del Rey.

Mulberry said store sales were up 12 per cent for the 10 weeks to last Saturday as it comes up against tougher comparatives with a year earlier.