Vertu signed a “major agreement” with smartphone maker TCL, shortly after the boutique smartphone maker came under new ownership.

The deal will enable Vertu to use “advanced and innovative technology” from the Chinese company for “30,000 handcrafted Vertu phones”, to be produced at its UK plant.

“It is the first of many, considerable investments we are making into the business,” said Hakan Uzan, the entrepreneur who bought Vertu in mid-March, from new corporate offices in Paris, France.

While the company moved its corporate offices, it noted: “all Vertu products are designed and manufactured in the UK, with around 90 per cent destined for export markets”.

Vertu said under the “patronage and leadership” of its new owner, it is: “going through a substantial restructuring and modernisation of all its business units, while preserving the heritage and craftsmanship it is renowned for around the world”.

Reports earlier this year described the Uzan family as an “exiled and secretive Turkish business dynasty”.

The new owner said: “customers will have access to limited, special edition Constellation X products as soon as mid-July, with full ramp up by early September. The new generation of Vertu Concierge Services will start being introduced in mid-July in limited markets, with a new wide ranging portfolio of Vertu Life Style Products becoming available in Vertu Boutiques in early September”.

Also promised were “several exclusive luxury partnerships with leading global brands”. Products will be sold in “the key luxury markets of France, UK, China, Asia, Russia, Western Europe and the Middle East”.

With an entry selling price of £7,500, more than 500,000 devices have been sold by Vertu since its first unit shipped in 2002. It counts more than 225,000 registered users.