Retailers benefit from City bonuses

High-end jewellery and luxury goods retailers in the City of London have been enjoying a lucrative time as bonuses are increasingly thrown at expensive gifts, according to the Retail Bulletin. Among the grateful recipients is privately-owned jewellery business Boodles that recently revealed it had been doing a roaring trade with sales up 35 per cent to nearly £39 million as British bankers - rather than rich Russians - were snapping up its necklaces at more than £100,000 a pop.

Other operators enjoying the current bonanza are luxury bag retailer Mulberry that has seen its shares perform particularly strongly over the past year - up from a low of 165p to a current 226.5p - as punters splash out in its quality products. So successful has it been that Karen Millen founder Kevin Stanford recently bought a large chunk of Mulberry shares.

Also enjoying the rise in City bonuses is jeweller Theo Fennell whose clients handily include a number of famous faces. Reflecting its decent trading of late its shares have made sparkling progress this year - moving up from a low of 38p in May last year to a current 134p. As long as the bowl that is the financial centre continues to floweth over with cash then these luxury goods players will continue to deliver the goods to their customers and their shareholders.