Potter cracks US market

DEMAND for ceramic tea sets and tableware in the US and South Korea lifted sales at Stoke-on-Trent-based Portmeirion to a record high.

The pottery firm posted a 5.7pc sales boost to £89.6m in the year to December 31 as profits jumped by 10.1pc to £9.7m.

Along with the UK, its biggest markets are South Korea and the US – where its Botanic Garden range is a best-seller. The range, launched in 1972, has an estimated 50m pieces in homes around the world.

Shares in the firm – founded by pottery designer Susan Williams-Ellis in 1960 – jumped 3.1pc, or 32.5p, to 1070p last night.