Not even IT blunder can hurt Aspinal

SALES leapt at luxury leather goods maker Aspinal of London, despite a major IT blunder that meant bags were selling at £8 instead of £950.

A glitch on Harrods’ website in December led to scores of handbags being priced incorrectly with a £250 leather tote bag retailing for £2.13 and another, which usually sells for £950, being snapped up for £8.08.

Despite calls for Harrods to honour the error, the store refused to dispatch the handbags which had been given the wrong price tag.

Companies House accounts revealed that Aspinal’s retail sales surged 8pc year- on-year while online purchases were up 36pc, to take revenue to £29.4m in the 12 months to March 31.

The strong figures helped to halve Aspinal’s losses for the year, taking it to £792,761 compared with £1.58m a year earlier.