Overseas demand lifts Portmeirion

Strong demand for quintessentially English tea china in countries such as Korea helped crockery and pottery firm Portmeirion reveal record annual revenues of £32m (€40.6m) today.

The group, which supplies stores including Harrods and John Lewis, said Korea was its third largest market, with £5.5m (€7m) in annual sales thanks to the country’s love of traditional floral and colourful china.

Stoke-on-Trent based Portmeirion reported a 13% hike in revenues, with Korean sales accounting for 17% of turnover.

Portmeirion said its designs are particularly popular with discerning Koreans, as plain white tea china is said to be seen as less sophisticated in the country.