A luxury second-hand watch retailer shifted one timepiece every 30 minutes over the last year – worth an average of £5,000 each.

Watchfinder, which sells brands like Tag Heuer and Omega, sold a record £68 million of designer gear in the 12 months to August, lifting revenues to £220 million since it launched in 2002.

The Maidstone-based company sold 1,600 pieces in December 2015, its busiest month, including 730 Rolexs.

The firm aims to expand into more foreign markets after launching US and Australian websites earlier this year.

It has a warehouse in Pudding Lane and a 2,000sq ft service centre at Albion Place, where it returns watches to as-good-as-new condition after buying them from the public.

It has bought 16,000 timepieces from people in the last year, an average of 1,383 a month.

The company is run by three former pupils at Sittingbourne’s Borden Grammar School: Lloyd Amsdon, Stuart Hennell and Matt Bowling, plus another friend Jonathan Gill.

Mr Amsdon said: “Watchfinder’s growth relies on both the customer who buys and sells. That we can now balance this is the sweet-spot to keep the company expanding at impressive speed. Exciting times ahead.”