Staff at upmarket estate agent and commercial-property consultancy Knight Frank have defied the credit crunch to bag £46m in bonuses this year.

An average payout of £780,000 has been landed by 46 partners at the group.

The bonus payments were less than the £1.1m staff received last year because the partnership chose to retain more of its £67m profits as a cash buffer against tougher times ahead.

The payouts came after a strong financial year to last April , which saw group turnover rise 17% to £333.9m and underlying profits before tax edge up from £64.9m to £67m.

Sunday Times