Made In Britain tag 'worth £3.5bn' extra to UK, is key for fashion - report

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Mar 11, 2021

Just how special is the ‘Made in Britain’ tag and how much is it worth? Very, and it can add £3.5 billion a year to exporters, according to a Barclays survey, which showed UK fashion came top in the quality stakes.

Research from the bank’s corporate arm reveals premium international consumers are prepared to pay extra for British made goods, with those in India, the UAE and China prepared to pay the most. These markets, in particular, associate British goods with being of a higher quality.

And ​British fashion was the product category that's most viewed around the world as being "good quality", according to 46% of respondents, the report said.

The international study of over 10,000 people across 10 markets asked respondents how much extra they’d be willing to pay if products such as clothing, food and drink and cars that bore a Union Jack kite mark? 

Those in India led the way, prepared to pay an 11.8% gross premium for UK products, followed by the UAE (10.9%), the US (10.4%), South Africa (9.6%) and China (8.8%).

Meanwhile, 66% of consumers in China and India said they’d be inclined to pay more for goods displaying the Union Jack because they believe them to be of a higher quality. This is way ahead of the survey’s average of 39%, noted Barclays.

The picture is enhanced when looking at consumers who say they’ve already paid more for British products with China leading at 63%, followed by India (60%) and the UAE (56%). 

Additionally, when respondents were asked if are buying more British goods than they did five years ago, 69% of consumers in India, 64% in China and 64% in the UAE said they are increasingly buying British.

By category, British food products came top with a gross price premium of 11.7%, followed by alcoholic beverages at 11.2%, homewares at 10.4%, with UK fashion at just under 10%. 

James Binns, Global Head of Trade and Working Capital at Barclays Corporate Banking, said: “As the UK enters a new era on the international stage, our research highlights that there is strong appetite for British-made products all over the world. 

“While the EU and the US remain the biggest trading partners for the UK, there are considerable opportunities for British businesses to grow exports to less traditional markets".