Boom for the banana tree and other goofy gadgets

But middle England cannot get enough of 'storage solutions' and kitchen gizmos, and is fuelling a major recovery of the family firm that sells them.

Lakeland has seen sales leap in the past year by almost 20 per cent and has just posted pre-tax profits of £6.27million.

The firm based in Windermere, Cumbria, has long been a household favourite for its unique line of gadgets and devices.

And it is its loyal customers who have kickstarted a resurgence at the firm after a rocky period two years ago.

Julian Rayner, one of three brothers who own and run the company, said: 'Our customers are very middle England and we are proud to have their support. We supply them with what they tell us they want and that is the secret of our success.

'You never really know what sells until you put it on the market. My brother came up with something that looked to me like a piece of bent wire. It went on sale as a banana tree and we sold in excess of 120,000.'

When Delia Smith recommended a Lakeland omelette pan priced at £14.95 on her TV programme in 1998, sales went through the roof. Last year an episode of Gordon Ramsay's series the F-Word did the same for Lakeland's potato ricer.

The business was started by Mr Rayner's father, Alan, an agricultural feed salesman, in the 1960s who decided to provide farmers with polythene bags for packing poultry.

He set up a mail order business called Lakeland Plastics with his wife, supplying agricultural plastics and home-freezing products from the garage of their Windermere home in the Lake District.

Mr Rayner senior retired in 1974 and his three sons Martin, Sam and Julian took over.

Renamed Lakeland, the firm expanded its range of products to include wooden, glass, ceramic and stainless steel kitchenware, and opened 34 stores nationwide. However, the rapid expansion brought major problems and the company was forced to rethink.

Julian Rayner said: 'We spent a lot building a new headquarters, borrowed a lot and probably got a lot of our product wrong.'

The company, which sells more than half of its products via mail order or the internet, has now added more innovative items to its range. Mr Rayner said: 'It's all down to the customers. They tell us what they want - some of their suggestions seem quite odd but they have worked very well.'