Dividends and capital gains are all well and good, but some companies treat their shareholders to lavish perks as well, from discount designer handbags and free spending money to bargain bottles of wine. While the number of firms offering generous benefits is decreasing, you can still land some great offers along with your shares. Take a look at some of the best.

If you're a shopaholic with a weakness for expensive arm candy, you might want to bag 250 shares in Mulberry, the heritage leather goods firm. A minimum of 250 shares at £11 a pop gets you a 20% discount on purchases up to £10,000 a year, a potential saving of £2,000 a year. Not a bad perk for £2,750 worth of stock.

Perfect for IT geeks, IBM rewards each of its shareholders with access to an exclusive online store. Investors can choose from a wide range of refurbished IBM and Lenovo hardware at knockdown prices. You'll need at least one share – currently priced at £126 – to qualify for the perk.

One for the avid reader, publisher Bloomsbury offers shareholders with 200 shares or more a juicy 35% discount on all print books it publishes, which include the Harry Potter titles. Bloomsbury stock is currently trading at £1.70 a share, so you'll have to invest at least £340 to qualify for the discount.

Craft brewery and bar chain BrewDog treats shareholders, which it calls Equity Punks, to a range of lifetime discounts in its bars and online shop, as well as a free birthday beer in any of the firm's bars and £10 worth of beer vouchers. Shareholders require a minimum of five shares to qualify.

The financial services group rewards shareholders with a variety of impressive discounts, from 25% off life insurance and a 15% discount on home insurance, to 10% off residential surveys and real estate valuations. The discounts are open to all investors who hold a minimum of one share.

Shareholders who own at least 317 shares (around £1,500 today) in Merlin Entertainments Group on a specific eligibility date get a discount of up to 40% off an annual family pass offering unlimited free entry to UK attractions like Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, Legoland Windsor and Madame Tussauds London.

Once a year, all shareholders of retail giant Marks & Spencer receive a booklet of vouchers packed with discounts on a range of clothing, homeware and more. At the time of writing, the share price stands at £3.64, so you really don't have to make much of an investment to take advantage of this annual shareholder perk.

Irish Continental offers shareholders who own more than 1,000 shares in the group up to 20% off passenger and car ferry services between Ireland and the UK, 10% off journeys between Ireland and France, and 5% off Irish Ferries package holidays. At £4.68 a share, you'll need to invest a hefty £4,600 in order to qualify.

Just one share (currently priced at £3.11) in BT will get you access to a variety of offers from the telecoms firm and its partners. From cheaper broadband and reduced handsets to discount theatre tickets and low-cost package vacations, shareholders are entitled to plenty of favourable deals.

If you hold 500 shares in housebuilding firm Persimmon, you get 2% off the price of a new Persimmon property. The maximum shareholders can claim in any one year is £4,000. Although you'll have to invest a minimum of £23,000 to qualify, this is a pretty impressive deal nonetheless.

Fond of horse-racing? A minimum of 100 shares – £550 investment – in Newbury Racecourse will entitle you to a voucher for two-day member's badges. If you can stretch to 5,000 shares, an investment of £27,500, you'll get privileged access to the Members Enclosure at Newbury, as and when you like.