Savills staff to get £100m bonus payout after profits soar

The estate agent Savills' 25,000 staff worldwide are set to share more than £100m in bonuses this year after the property consultant's profits jumped.

The firm handed out £111m last year and the pot will grow further this year as Savills outstripped City hopes with a 21 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £60.8m.

Overseas demand for new homes in the capital is such that Savills enjoyed a huge rush of sales for flats at Fitzroy Place, on the site of the former Middlesex Hospital in central London, in just one weekend of marketing in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The Chancellor's stamp duty raid on homes above £2m cooled the central London market last year as volumes sank 7 per cent, but that failed to deter super-rich buyers.

In Chelsea, Knightsbridge, Mayfair and Belgravia, Savills saw a record year for properties over £5m, with sales volumes up 14 per cent.

Savills also saw a 5 per cent rise in plush country homes outside London, with the biggest increase seen in properties just below the £2m upper stamp duty limit.