Handbag-maker Mulberry shuts its shop in Paris as tourists stay away

Luxury fashion house Mulberry has shut its shop in Paris because too few tourists are visiting the city.

The handbag-maker has ended the lease at its boutique on upmarket Rue Saint-Honore. 

Mulberry will receive £13million back from a rent deposit it had to pay when it moved in, and will bank £10.8million of this after tax.

Adieu: Handbag-maker Mulberry has ended the lease at its Paris boutique on upmarket Rue Saint-Honore

It will leave by September, two years earlier than planned. France has been badly hit by Covid and is bracing for a fourth wave this year as the Delta variant spreads.

This has prompted fears that further restrictions or lockdowns could be introduced – though tourism is still expected to take years to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

Mulberry said the money saved could go towards new investment.

The AIM-listed company was founded in Somerset in 1971 by mother-and-son duo Roger and Joan Saul and has become renowned for its leather goods.

Mulberry said it would reopen a shop in the city when international tourists start returning.

Shares rose 1.7 per cent, or 5p, to 305p.