Beckham couple's brands go head-to-head

Victoria and David Beckham with, from left, children Brooklyn, Cruz, Romeo and Harper. Photo / Getty Images

The ex-Spice Girl and ex-footballer now earn more than they did during the careers in which they made their names, write Gordon Rayner and Christopher Williams.

Victoria Beckham has followed her husband David's lead by building a second career even more lucrative than her first. The former Spice Girl has built up her fashion brand from a modest start to a company turning over £34 million ($75 million) in the last financial year, meaning that Brand Victoria now rivals Brand David as a moneymaking machine.

Accounts submitted to London's Companies House show that Victoria Beckham Ltd increased its turnover by $19.6 million on the $55 million revenue of the previous year, while the companies that handle her husband's marketing and sponsorship deals pulled in just $37 million.

However, the couple are still very much reliant on David for their personal income, as Victoria's company made a net loss while the former England football captain's companies, which have few overheads - mainly selling his image rights - made a profit of $27.7 million.

Both now earn more than they did during the careers in which they originally made their names.

The success of Victoria's fashion house means it is expected to go into profit in the medium term, indicating she could one day be the main breadwinner in the family.

Accounts also show that the couple restructured their businesses, pooling their resources into one umbrella company that paid each of them a $6.5 million dividend. A similar amount was paid to Simon Fuller, their long-term manager, who is the third shareholder in the parent company, Beckham Brand Holdings.

Victoria's unqualified success has silenced the critics who initially dismissed her eponymous fashion label as a vanity project.

Since founding her company in 2008, she has grown it into a business employing 100 people, with a store in London, an online business and proposed new stores in Hong Kong, the Middle East and the United States.

Sales have grown 2900 per cent over the past five years.

Named designer brand of the year at the British Fashion Awards in 2011, Victoria was also named Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 by Management Today magazine for creating "a company that is both real and wildly successful". The magazine, which estimated her wealth at $458 million, said she was "an adept exploiter of her own celebrity value".

David retired from football in 2013 and is now the highest-paid retired sportsman in the world through marketing and advertising deals with companies including Adidas, Diageo, H&M, Breitling, Jaguar, China Auto Rental and Sky Sports.

He also earns millions more from other business ventures, which are understood to have taken his total earnings to $111 million in 2014, according to Forbes magazine.

As part of the restructuring of their companies, David resigned from Victoria Beckham Ltd at the end of last year, having set up a new company, David Beckham Ventures, in August 2014 - of which Victoria is not a director.

A spokesman for the couple said the move was "to allow both businesses to grow in their own different ways".

- Canvas, Telegraph