How much is "made in Britain" worth to you?

PeteinSQ

Cycle clothing company Velobici is about to launch some new "performance roadwear" that is priced rather steeply (£140 for the jersey, £130 for shorts) which looks like it intends to compete with Rapha and Le Col. Not having actually seen the stuff in the flesh I can't really say how good or otherwise it is but assuming that it is at least as good as Rapha or Le Col's offerings (for the sake of argument and this thread) how much of a premium are you willing to attach to the fact that the Velobici stuff is actually made here in the UK?

There's a link to the velobici site here: http://www.velobici.cc/roadwear-42-c.asp

I can't really afford any of the brands discussed btw but thought it would be interesting to see what people think of the Made in Britain sentiment? Does it bother you at all or not?

t.m.h.n.e.t

At that price I'd expect someone to wear them for me,but that defeats the point.

lucan

"Made in Britain" adds absolutely no value to any product in my view.

Daz555

If a product is genuinely made in Britain then this adds a great deal of value to me.......up to a point. I'm happy to pay a bit more for goods made at home, but not too much more.

jibberjim

Made in Britain decreases the value on something that is easy to ship and in a low import duty segment, as it means the goods are more expensive than the materials and workmanship demand as it's using high cost labour and other costs.

Cleat Eastwood

i'd pay 145 squid just to have a mop head like the guy in the bob maitland top.

PeteinSQ

I personally am happy to pay more for something that is made here in the UK on the grounds that I want to support the employment of people in this country over those overseas. These things are all way beyond my budget for cycling kit though even if they are amazing.

The jersey is £15 more than the equivalent Rapha jersey and perhaps as well made. I'd like to think that some people would think this was a price worth paying for something made here rather than in a factory in the far east where they pay £2 an hour (figure plucked out of the air).

Ron Stuart

PeteinSQ wrote:

I personally am happy to pay more for something that is made here in the UK on the grounds that I want to support the employment of people in this country over those overseas. These things are all way beyond my budget for cycling kit though even if they are amazing.

The jersey is £15 more than the equivalent Rapha jersey and perhaps as well made. I'd like to think that some people would think this was a price worth paying for something made here rather than in a factory in the far east where they pay £2 an hour (figure plucked out of the air).

There is an increasing amount of products made in Britain by people from overseas.

In my experience of car ownership the best and most reliable cars were those made in Japan and the worst most unreliable were those made in England, however my current car is a Honda made in Swindon and it isn't made as well as my previous Mazda made in Japan.

As far as I am concerned I have wasted enough money in the past on trying to be patriotic and now I shall purchase what I consider to be the best buy first and foremost.

The village next to mine has what was a creamery, which was staffed by locals in the main. Now it makes desserts for M & S staffed upwards of 80% by bused in migrant workers from in digs in Shrewsbury and Telford on a shift work basis.

rick_chasey

I don't remotely consider where a product is made before I buy it.

wardieboy

For £145 I'd expect it to clock a gold in a 100 mile sportive and give my missus a good seeing to once it got home.

t.m.h.n.e.t

wardieboy wrote:

For £145 I'd expect it to clock a gold in a 100 mile sportive and give my missus a good seeing to once it got home.

I'll do it for £40 and a beer before I fly home. Deal?

verylonglegs

Cars are an interesting point, Rover cars were made in Britian and were bloody awful and to be avoided but the best car I ever had for value and reliability was also made in Britain, a Nissan from the Sunderland plant. It's not always solely about where it was made and put together so to just purchase on the basis of a 'Made in...' sticker is blindly patriotic to say the least and probably going to cost you at some point.

alihisgreat

I like British Strawberrys when they're in season.

That's it.

Ron Stuart

verylonglegs wrote:

Cars are an interesting point, Rover cars were made in Britian and were bloody awful and to be avoided but the best car I ever had for value and reliability was also made in Britain, a Nissan from the Sunderland plant. It's not always solely about where it was made and put together so to just purchase on the basis of a 'Made in...' sticker is blindly patriotic to say the least and probably going to cost you at some point.

The Sunderland plant just went to prove that our home grown British work force can be second to none. What has let us down badly in the past and still to a large extent is the management over here. Prior to the Nissan plant opening they went on a recruitment drive and some staff were recruited from the disenfranchised staff in existing UK plants, well they virtually had to be completely retrained and brought up to scratch before they were let loose making Nissan cars. This is why you had such a good experience with yours. If we could train our managers as well as these boys we would be going places, bit like Sky Pro Cycling team (good management and then good team)

Hoopdriver

I would pay a modest premium for something made in the UK - and I would also have higher expectations as well. If I didn't see those expectations being met, I'd pass.

tigerben

Given two equal products - one made in UK and one made in China - I would be willing to pay a premium for the Uk made kit (or anything Euro made for that matter). The reliance on artificially cheap imports and consequent huge trade imbalance is crippling our economy - so when I can I try and buck the trend - even if it is a tiny little drop of piss in the ocean.

I will not however pay a premium for over ugly priced kit were more money has gone on marketing than has gone on the product itself - so in this instance i will pass... Shutt is also made in GB and last time I checked was significantly cheaper (and better looking). ....

Giraffoto

My choice of Hope hubs (in Hope wheels - but with French or Swiss rims) was partly based on their UK credentials. To buy something locally made is to invest in the future of your country's manufacturing industry, something no government seems that keen to do.

rolf_f

Rick Chasey wrote:

I don't remotely consider where a product is made before I buy it.

That's one reason why Germanys economy is doing so much better than ours. You should care. If you don't, you are part of the problem. This attitude is deeply depressing.

Otherwise, Shutt produce Yorkshire made jerseys from Lancashire made fabric at very reasonable prices and the Rover 75 was a very good car (even Clarkson aknowledged that away from the hypocritical TV programme). The production line showed Jaguar a thing or two.

Ron Stuart

Clarkson is not a means of judging anything by.

rick_chasey

Rolf F wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

I don't remotely consider where a product is made before I buy it.

That's one reason why Germanys economy is doing so much better than ours. You should care. If you don't, you are part of the problem. This attitude is deeply depressing.

Otherwise, Shutt produce Yorkshire made jerseys from Lancashire made fabric at very reasonable prices and the Rover 75 was a very good car (even Clarkson aknowledged that away from the hypocritical TV programme). The production line showed Jaguar a thing or two.

The problem isn't consumers picking products on the basis of quality and price, rather than manufacturing location.

That problem is that there aren't enough things being manufactured in the UK which are competitive on either quality or price.

Germans buy a lot of German stuff since, unsurprisingly, German stuff is worth buying.

DavidBelcher

PeteinSQ wrote:

Cycle clothing company Velobici is about to launch some new "performance roadwear" that is priced rather steeply (£140 for the jersey, £130 for shorts) which looks like it intends to compete with Rapha and Le Col. Not having actually seen the stuff in the flesh I can't really say how good or otherwise it is but assuming that it is at least as good as Rapha or Le Col's offerings (for the sake of argument and this thread) how much of a premium are you willing to attach to the fact that the Velobici stuff is actually made here in the UK?

There's a link to the velobici site here: http://www.velobici.cc/roadwear-42-c.asp

I can't really afford any of the brands discussed btw but thought it would be interesting to see what people think of the Made in Britain sentiment? Does it bother you at all or not?

I always try to buy a UK-made product where one is offered/available. But in this instance, you can plump for Lusso kit made in Manchester for a lot less cash than that.

Sometimes the premium is tiny or non-existent such as favouring Fibrax brake blocks and cables over imported stuff (which sadly includes Clarks these days, no longer made in Brum).

David

rolf_f

Ron Stuart wrote:

Clarkson is not a means of judging anything by.

No - but the fact that despite his love of contributing to the demise of Rover he still couldn't deny, on paper at least, that it was a good car. But of course it does highlight the fact that he says anything for a laugh irrespective of what he actually thinks. Anyway, probably not a helpful sidetrack!

rolf_f

Rick Chasey wrote:

The problem isn't consumers picking products on the basis of quality and price, rather than manufacturing location.

That problem is that there aren't enough things being manufactured in the UK which are competitive on either quality or price.

Germans buy a lot of German stuff since, unsurprisingly, German stuff is worth buying.

No - Germans buy German stuff because they know it is in their interests to. They do also make crap stuff. A lot of VW and Mercedes products have been poor lately but they don't use that as an excuse to rush off to the Far East.

You won't even know if British stuff is good because you'll probably never try it and if you do, you probably aren't aware that it was made here (based on your own comment).

Besides - is your solution then just to buy German stuff? In exactly what way do you think that this will help our economy? Your attitude is p1ss poor really - if there were less people like you, the rest of us would be better off. You are right that there isn't enough good stuff made here - but there is some good stuff made here and people like you care too little to buy it. Instead you just whinge and moan about how bad everything is - how does that help? When you end up in recession, it's exports that get you out of it. Though ironically, the state of the Euro is stuffing even that up at the moment.

rick_chasey

It's not that. I'l buy what's best for me, on quality and price. I don't care where it's from. Really, I don't.

My TV comes from a Korean Company, my phone too. My old phone was from a US company. My cooker, food processor, fridge, washing machine are all German firms too. My latest bike is from Germany, though the components are from a Japanese firm.

Each one was bought on the basis of its quality and price - rather than the origin of the firm or where it was produced. (I think most of the cheaper VWs are made in Brazil anyway).

The problem isn't what consumers are buying - it's what's being produced. If you want the UK to be big in manufacturing, you need to support the industry so that it can produce competitive goods.

The German manufacturing industry has, in the past, been significantly helped by the gov't. Exactly the same in Korea, and Japan.

The same needs to be done in the UK. It's not happening, and it won't happen. That's the problem.

rolf_f

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's not that. I'l buy what's best for me, on quality and price. I don't care where it's from. Really, I don't.

To be fair, at least you're not being hypocritical about it but I don't really understand your viewpoint. How can you not care if the UK is strong in manufacturing? If you don't make anything, you aren't going to succeed in the long run. Even if you don't believe anything will change, surely you would at least want to do your best.

I'm not saying I succeed all the time. I ended up buying a Bosch washer dryer recently and I bought some MTB brakes from a German shop which is really unhelpful. But I try to help UK first and Europe next.

rick_chasey

Rolf F wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's not that. I'l buy what's best for me, on quality and price. I don't care where it's from. Really, I don't.

To be fair, at least you're not being hypocritical about it but I don't really understand your viewpoint. How can you not care if the UK is strong in manufacturing? If you don't make anything, you aren't going to succeed in the long run. Even if you don't believe anything will change, surely you would at least want to do your best.

I'm not saying I succeed all the time. I ended up buying a Bosch washer dryer recently and I bought some MTB brakes from a German shop which is really unhelpful. But I try to help UK first and Europe next.

It's not up to me, the consumer, to support a manufacturing industry. It's up to the industry to make stuff that consumers want over other products.

I'm all in favour of a strong manufacturing industry. I just don't think focussing on consumers will remotely help. Focussing on making UK manufacturing competitive on quality and/or price will.

jibberjim

So I find the patriotism involved in "buying british" pretty disgusting actually, I don't see why I should make a Brits life better when the worst standard of living in britain is mile better that most peoples in the worlds, I'd rather that became more equal, and I specifically see trade as the best way of doing that, things are done where they're most efficient.

If you believe it's in my own self interest to protect UK manufacturing because potentially at some point in the future its decline will harm me through higher prices due to very high imports - well then I think it's a lot more sensible to hedge that outcome by buying as cheap as possible now and investing the savings in a manner which will protect me. As my buying british would not be enough to change the outcome (if it's a genuine risk anyway) and I lose out.

Le Commentateur

Rolf F wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's not that. I'l buy what's best for me, on quality and price. I don't care where it's from. Really, I don't.

To be fair, at least you're not being hypocritical about it but I don't really understand your viewpoint. How can you not care if the UK is strong in manufacturing? If you don't make anything, you aren't going to succeed in the long run. Even if you don't believe anything will change, surely you would at least want to do your best.

But I would suggest that many British companies have the same approach by outsourcing services and production to cheaper locations, in order to maximize their profit margins. The idea of investing in our own community has largely been lost as a result. "I'll buy what's best for me, on quality and price" is pretty much the mantra of the free market.

rick_chasey

Le Commentateur wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's not that. I'l buy what's best for me, on quality and price. I don't care where it's from. Really, I don't.

To be fair, at least you're not being hypocritical about it but I don't really understand your viewpoint. How can you not care if the UK is strong in manufacturing? If you don't make anything, you aren't going to succeed in the long run. Even if you don't believe anything will change, surely you would at least want to do your best.

But I would suggest that many British companies have the same approach by outsourcing services and production to cheaper locations, in order to maximize their profit margins. The idea of investing in our own community has largely been lost as a result. "I'll buy what's best for me, on quality and price" is pretty much the mantra of the free market.

It is, absolutely. It's a problem of the free market.

It's up to the gov't to intervene where appropriate to correct the market failure - not the consumer.

In this instance, I'd suggest some well thought out protection for the manufacturing industry - appropriate subsidies, etc etc, to help it flourish again to a point where the produce is internationally competitive - that kind of thing.

daviesee

Rick Chasey wrote:

The German manufacturing industry has, in the past, been significantly helped by the gov't. Exactly the same in Korea, and Japan.

The same needs to be done in the UK. It's not happening, and it won't happen. That's the problem.

The reason for that is because Gov't subsidies are against EU rules.
Britain plays by the rules. Don't know why as no one else does.

rick_chasey

daviesee wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

The German manufacturing industry has, in the past, been significantly helped by the gov't. Exactly the same in Korea, and Japan.

The same needs to be done in the UK. It's not happening, and it won't happen. That's the problem.

The reason for that is because Gov't subsidies are against EU rules.
Britain plays by the rules. Don't know why as no one else does.

Seems pretty happy to subsidise the industry where the UK does have a competitive advantage (banking).