Luxury fashion label Lulu Guinness bags sales growth

Luxury handbag maker Lulu Guinness may have had a happy Christmas thanks to booming sales growth, but it is facing a cocktail of headwinds this year, new accounts reveal.

Accessories brand Lulu Guinness, which is known for its lip-shaped bags and has 18 shops, saw sales between December 18 and January 2 increase by 25%.

The growth followed a series of investments into the label in the year to March 2017, including into IT and launching a debut shoes collection.

Turnover rose 4% to £9.5 million, while pretax losses widened to £460,549 from a £89,678 loss.

In its full-year report, the Highgate-headquartered firm which was founded in 1989, warned of a number of challenges it continues to face, including competition from rivals, exposure to currency fluctuations, and high occupancy costs for London shops.

It said it will continue to invest in the online business and has recently launched a clothing range which it plans to develop further “to broaden the appeal” of the brand.