Pottery designer has future down to a tea

The group – famous for its distinctive polka dot design – said it expected to increase its staffing levels by 20 per cent to cope with demand as it benefits from "a revival in tea drinking".

Bridgewater is forecasting revenues to rise to 20 million by the end of 2012 after seeing a 33 per cent leap to 11m in the year to April.

Profits at the company – which also has five retail outlets, including a shop on Edinburgh's Dundas Street – surged to 1.25m.

Emma Bridgewater, who runs the eponymous company with her husband Matthew Rice, said: "Britons have been spending more time in their kitchens during the recession, seeking comfort from drinking more tea.

"This has led to a sharp increase in sales of our mugs and jugs in particular."

The firm claims to be the largest company to make all of its output by hand in Britain, with a team of 150 workers producing more than 5,000 mugs, bowls or plates every day from its factory in Stoke-on-Trent.

The company attracts 20,000 people a year to its visitor centre based at the Stoke factory and it wants to expand the site to receive 50,000 visitors a year.