Personally I like to see a “Made in Britain” sticker ,and in the current difficult times makes me feel that I’m doing a little to try and help along our industry.
Obviously its not always possible to “Buy British” and as stated previously quite often the superior product is of foreign manufacture.
Just recently due to a off(thanks to the new metrolink tram that there putting in Droylesden,Grrr..) I have had to invest in some new bib knicks,had a look round at whats available and after reading some good reviews have bought some “Lusso 3/4 Roubaix Bib Knicks”,made in Britain (only about 10miles away from where I live) and seem to be of a comparable quality to the Santini Bib knicks there replacing.
Have a few pairs of handmade British shoes ,Barker and Loake and a Brooks Saddle and Middleburn cranks too.

I agree with so many points here, “made in…” doesn’t do it for me, but what does is when it is a product that someone local has put his passion heart and soul into making the very best they can. I think companys like Hope Orange Enigma and lots of others try to and I am happy to pay equal or a bit more to know someone with passion and soul has made it the very best they can and it is equal or better to the competition. Reward those who put the effort in especially if they are local. What is wrong with having passion in design and quality like ferrari alfa blah blah maybe not as reliable as a jap car but so much more rewarding, and I find that with all elements of engineering and design and am happy that a good deal of beatufil and quality products still comes from the UK

Is the concensus that people will buy foreign because its cheaper ,if it was a quality UK produced and designed product people would pay that little extra to buy british?

I think there is a certain amount of genius behind the TF PUSH. Take some thing mass produced, rip the guts out and put better ones in.

Anyone know where the PUSH internals are made though?

PUSH = USA

bedrock – Member

‘Made in the UK’…by a Polish worker…for a foreign owned company.

Nothing like a random comment to get me interested. Which company is this then?

How about Rolls Royce cars.
Watched one of those megafactories episodes and a fair few Poles worked on the cars for their German owners in the UK factory.

I for one work in manufacturing and tbh the decline in our “kudos” has been there for about 50 years.
Apart from the odd niche company the desire for most “British” people isn`t to make anything of any worth as there is little money to be made in manufacturing almost everything.

buzz-lightyear
Did you watch Evan Davies’ TV programmes recently?

I didn’t. Sounds interesting.

compositepro
Is the concensus that people will buy foreign because its cheaper ,if it was a quality UK produced and designed product people would pay that little extra to buy british?

I don’t know if a consensus has been formed yet. Your question is a bit leading – what are you comparing that quality UK produced and designed product against? Your scenario suggests that we’re comparing a quality UK product with an average foreign product, which doesn’t really offer any sort of conclusion.

If it’s two products of equal concept and quality; two aesthetically and functionally identical products, at the same price, one with a Union Jack sticker and one with a made in China sticker, then I think it’s likely most people from around the world would go with the British product.

For Brits they’d probably do it out of a feeling of patriotism, to supporting their own economy, and generally because it would seem like common sense. For those elsewhere around the world it might be due to the perceived superior quality of British goods.

But obviously that’s never a choice facing the consumer. Because the lower cost of a Chinese product will generally offset any extra quality of a UK equivalent, and people take price into consideration when buying.

Personally, I often think that the extra cost of UK produce isn’t reflected in the quality of the item. Rather you pay a premium mainly because it’s made in the UK, with its higher labour costs. I suppose my personal perception (and it isn’t shared by everyone, I accept) is that a Made in the UK sticker isn’t any guarantee of a good product. The only meaning it actually has is the literal.

Made in Germany however – that to me suggests quality and solidity. And when you look at the way Germany treats its engineering talent, and you look at the German psyche, you start to see why that might be a fair assumption to make.

Not everything with Made in Germany stamped on it is good quality.
I once ordered some holesaws at work and received these made in Germany ones and they were terrible. They were ruined after just one use. I ordered some UK made Starrett ones and you could drill a hundred holes before wearing them out.

I will always try and buy British if its good quality.
But sometimes its hard to find out if something is British designed or made or even its just the head office thats in the UK. I Think companies do this because most people are simply driven by cost when buying and that their is no weight to a Made in Britain sticker. Also companies source materials and part manufacture from all over the world so its hard to shout how British you are when all you do in the UK is the finishing and packaging of the product.
If their was a UK body that guaranteed a certain standard like the Lion mark on eggs then that could help companies show how good they are and consumers make a choice.

Blimey this thread has kept trundling along hasn’t it…

Seeing as this is a bike forum maybe the focus of this discussion should be limited to that particular business ~50% of posters have kept their focus on the “British Cycle industry” where others have tried to consider all UK industries in one fell swoop, focusing on the one area we all have a common interesst and knowledge of would probably help the debate, the bike industry could easily be considered a nice tidy little example of wider UK business activities anyway…

With that in mind I think you have to look at how “UK based” cycling companies operate and sell themselves both here and abroad.

We have a reasonable cycling “Soft goods” industry the likes of Endura, Altura, Royal, Rapha, Howies all with UK origins (I think) with varying degrees of UK and Eastern manufacturing and different UK and Global market presence, overall a healthy sector I think, with a reasonable Turnover.

UK based Frame and/or Bike companies, here the UK primarily follows the “Design/Develop in the UK – import/distribute finished goods from overseas” model. there are notable exceptions, Orange being the most widely mentioned, Pace maybe (DT owned though) as well as various custom builders but of course these all tend to be High cost, low volume producers, yes by manufacturing in the UK some jobs are created, but I do think it’s a little shortsighted to accuse the likes of DMR, On-one and Saracen of not contributing to our economy simply for not manufacturing here, they are still UK companies competing in quite a different market; creating jobs in design, marketing, distribution, etc, and of course paying their taxes in the UK, and ultimately taking the odd sale and derived revenue away from the likes of Giant, Specialized, etc in the US and elsewhere….

General Components, I’d separate this off from other areas of the Cycling industry as the Global OEM and aftermarket components markets are Massive, the LIkes of SRAM and Shimano are the obvious big players, Drivetrain, Brakes, suspension units, and control/”Finishing” components are probably worth far more as a market world wide than complete Bikes or premium frames and sadly the UK has relatively little presence there, We have Hope which plenty of people have mentioned them, but Yet again it’s High Price point, Low Volume manufactuer, primarily focused on the higer end of Aftermarket purchasers… Not much OEM presence, I can’t think of many other companies, USE perhaps, Middleburn?…
It’s not that these companies have a bad business model, it works quite well for them, but the biggest chunk of these markets are largely sewn up by the Yanks (SRAM) and Japanese (Shimano). so yet again we don’t do Volume and we ignore what seems like a pretty key, lower price point segments – IMO to our detriment…

Do we actually need more UK based Manufaturers of Bike frames? I would say no, the number of companies already servicing this market globally is very high. I think the UK cycling industry should look to expand in what you might call “Build Kit” all the parts sought for OEM assembly, basically get in the mix and challenge SRAM and Shimano on their “Home Turf” at the various Price and Function breaks. There are a couple of companies already managing to do this to a certain extent, Microshift? Campag,Hayes, Formula, but I think theres room for another couple in this market, possibly the Fork/suspension products market too, I see no reason why the next big supplier of such products shouldn’t be UK based… There is a growing market we have the knowedge and resources.

Benfeh has a v interesting perspective. The rest of the world have a far higher respect for UK-produced goods than we give ourselves credit for. We’re still one of the richest countries in the world – how do you think that’s happened if other countries aren’t buying our stuff?

Evan Davies: our sectors of strength in manufacturing are in small, hi-tech, high margin.
Not being mass-produced means the general population is less likely to be consumers of these things and therefore aware they exist and are highly valued elsewhere.
The point he made was that the UK industrialised first and then moved into services first. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if anything we’re the pioneers and ahead of the rest of the world.

We’re one of the most advanced countries in terms of e-commerce, and as has been stated, TV, music, art, theatre, fashion etc, all world class. Don’t forget tourism either. London is a very desirable place to be for the rest of the world.

From Wikipedia;
In 2008, the UK was the sixth-largest manufacturer in the world measured by value of output.

From The Telegraph
Manufacturing still accounts for a surprisingly large amount of the economy – about 12pc, a larger share than financial services’ 9pc. People find this surprising, because they do not come across many UK-manufactured products in their daily lives

we need to play to our strengths to thrive and survive. Most people old enough to have used mass-produced UK goods in the 60’s and 70’s say it was cr@p. Don’t see the rationale for keeping at it if we do it badly

One of the pies my fingers are in is the manufacture of instruments used in the pharmaceutical and medical field. I and my investors initially drafted a proposal to take over a mothballed factory (the old LG plant in Newport South Wales). Even with government grants and subsidised rates for the first three years, we couldn’t make the numbers work.

Now we have a plant in Malaysia providing 350 jobs for local people (direct employment, many other jobs have also been created indirectly), but none of the money they earn comes anywhere near the UK economy.

I would much prefer to be able to say our products are Made In Britain, and provide jobs and tax income for the UK directly, but it’s just too expensive for us to run a manufacturing company here 🙁

The problem is further compounded by any startups who want to enter the market – everyone else is manufacturing in cheap labour markets, so they invariably have to do the same in order to survive.

“…some UK made Starrett ones and you could drill a hundred holes before wearing them out.”
Another Scottish Borders product, from Jedburgh.

Macavity – Member

“…some UK made Starrett ones and you could drill a hundred holes before wearing them out.”
Another Scottish Borders product, from Jedburgh.

I have some Starret micrometers etc. and although they have a place in Jedburgh Starret is an American company and afaik most of the precision stuff is made over there.
Edit, found on Google

Manufactures band saw blades, power tool accessories and optical measuring projectors.

No drills

Only 3% of what you buy is made in China, but it’s the most important 3%

American centred article, but interesting reading.