Value of “Made in Britain”

New research from Cebr shows that products labelled “Made in Britain” command a considerably higher premium when sold abroad than those with no declared country of origin.

According to the economic forecaster, when consumers in eight key export markets see the Union Flag on a product, their inclination to buy increases.

This is especially true in new and emerging markets where two thirds of consumers (64%) would be more inclined to purchase a product carrying the Union Flag.

When labelled “Made in England/Scotland/Wales”, goods tend to command considerably lower premiums than “Made in Britain” –  the only case where this is not true is alcoholic beverages where the branding “Made in Scotland” adds a greater premium in several countries, particularly in the USA and Ireland.

The research, which examined product categories including food, drink, fashion, precision tools and automotives, also found that:

There is a stronger preference for British branded products in new and emerging markets than in developed markets.

Across all product categories, the “willingness to pay” gap between developed and new and emerging markets is 4.5%.

31% of customers in new and emerging markets have knowingly paid a premium for products from Great Britain – the same figure for developed economies is just 14%.

At least 50% of respondents in all countries perceived the quality of British goods to be “good” or “very good”. Scottish, English and Welsh products were also perceived positively, but often not to the same extent.

The report estimates a premium gap of up to £2.1 billion in the eight markets surveyed by labelling goods “Made in Britain”, the highest gains (in the order of £0.8 billion) would be obtained for exports to the USA, the market to which the UK exports the most in absolute terms, followed closely by £0.7 billion to China.