British fashion brand LK Bennett is eyeing Asia for further growth, with China as launch pad.

The brand’s spokesperson said the company is looking closely for opportunities in China to take advantage of the Chinese appetite for British brands.

“The perception of the brand continues to build around the world and that has strengthened our position,” said a spokesperson. “Asia is clearly an untapped opportunity and the potential for us could be enormous.”

Meanwhile, the company says it will not expand in the UK while recession lingers in the country.

“We’re not going to expand our base in the UK,” says Jim Sharp, a partner at Sirius Equity, one of LK Bennett’s private equity backers.

The brand, which Sharp described as “a notch below Burberry but ahead of the high street,” recorded a profit of £9.3 million in the year to July, benefiting from its international business. Overseas sales, which now account for more than a fifth of turnover, rose 65 per cent last year.

The brand, founded in 1990 by Linda Kristin Bennett, now has 161 stores.