Made in Britain appeal helps fashion brands, especially Burberry - report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 19, 2018

A new report offers more evidence of the global appeal of the ‘made in Britain’ stamp with 95% of international consumers believing that it’s a sign of quality.

Delivery specialist Whistl spoke to consumers in the UK and analysed international search and other data and found that 68% of global consumers are more likely to buy if products come from Britain, with UK fashion firms particularly well thought of abroad.

Scottish-made items make up four of the top five British products as far as international consumer perception is concerned and while three of the four are food and drink, traditional kilts are also on the list.

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Meanwhile Burberry is one of the brands seen as being the most British and underscores what Whistl said is the dominance of the fashion industry, with UK brands outdoing local competitors in their respective countries and even performing stronger internationally than at home.

It cited Google search trend data showing that Burberry has global fans in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore and despite being the ninth most searched for brand in the UK, it makes the top five in countries such as the US, China and France.

And at the more affordable end of the market, M&S is a big hit Ireland, Cyprus and Hong Kong, while Sports Direct gets plenty of interest from those in Ireland, Latvia and Estonia.

But as well as Burberry and M&S, overall the top British fashion retailers and brands searched for from around the world also include Next, Asos, Topshop, New Look, Sports Direct and PrettlyLittleThing.

The research also found that British culture is helping the county’s clothing exports with a 63% rise in traditional tweed clothing in the past decade and the TV series Peaky Blinders (which has become an international hit) being cited as giving tweed a boost.

The report follows a study by Barclays earlier this year showing that shoppers would be prepared to pay 20% more for British goods and almost 10% more for UK-made fashion.