Savills made profits in the UK in the first half of this year that were 24% up on the same period last year. UK revenue was up by 15%.

The UK performance of the company offset weakness in Hong Kong, China and Singapore where revenues dipped 7%.

The UK was also by far the biggest performer in the group, with first-half revenues of £222.3m – way ahead of Asia Pacific, continental Europe and the United States.

Residential transaction fee income in the UK was up 14% to £59.6m, with the number of exchanges up 20% compared with the first half of last year. The average value of properties sold rose 9%.

Altogether the group reported revenue up 8% to £430.8m and pre-tax profits up 15% to £24.7m.