Mulberry yesterday attributed its highest profits in a decade to sales of handbags and accessories.

The company, based in Bath, decided to concentrate on its two core divisions after results for the first half of last year slumped £107,000 into the red.

This year, profits for the same period reached £2.2m and sales rose by 59 per cent to £19.1m.

Accessories, such as leather organisers and notepads, made up 90 per cent of group sales and its handbags were snapped up by Kate Winslet, Scarlett Johannsen and Orlando Bloom.

Operating profits rose from £133,000 to £2.8m as it expanded in the UK and Asia.