Helping UK jobs and economy - Buy British?

[mac1]

who fecked the factory off to malaysia when the local NIMBYs bleated and planning consent was refused . maybe he should have built it at dale farm

believe Dyson had the same problem to begin with in Wiltshire...

Believe it was because of NIMBYs that we can't have fast trains...

 

[mac1]

There a\re plenty of cars that are built/assembled in the UK that provide a lot of jobs as well as componantry and smaller suppliers. So Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Ford etc.

most of the big makers make their cars in more than one country and have for many years- Ford in Germany, Toyota and Mercedes (the SUV) in the US

 

[mac1]

Dyson moved out of the UK beacuse it was cheaoper abroad. I don;t think anyone takes the thing about planning permission seriously do they?

I think that was the case to begin with

 

[JtB]

Why should you be made to feel unpatriotic for not buying a rubbish British Leyland Allegro

My first car was a "rubbish British Leyland Allegro", so I’m not falling for that “Buy British” sentiment a second time.

 

[Fab Foodie]

most of the big makers make their cars in more than one country and have for many years

Of course, but ones assembled in Britain are at least employing British workers.

 

[GTTTM]

I can go months and months without buying anyting on the internet - it's not really that hard

However, trying to buy British is often much harder (and a lot more expensive!). I can manage it with fruit and veg and meat (no danish bacon in this house.......) although of course then I'm not really supporting British workers as it's most of them don't want the irregular, long hours, hard slog on the farms work

Other stuff unless you've got a lot of money to spare you just can't do.

 

[GTTTM]

And lets face it they move out so they can pay their workers even less and get away with it and so they do't have to pay as much tax etc etc! Pay a 17yr old £3.94, or even an adult £5.93 nah............move abroad and you can exploit 'em even more

 

[subaqua]

Dyson moved out of the UK beacuse it was cheaoper abroad. I don;t think anyone takes the thing about planning permission seriously do they?

No, I certainly don't. but it annoys me when people paint Dyson as a hero when he was a ruthless business man who cut costs by moving production abroad.

 

[Fab Foodie]

No, I certainly don't. but it annoys me when people paint Dyson as a hero when he was a ruthless business man who cut costs by moving production abroad.

Would it have been better for him to have soldiered-on in the UK and gone bust?

 

[John the Monkey]

I think, to make a start, try and stop buying things off the internet. Go on, give it a try. See how long you last.

I buy stuff at the LBS where the difference in price is small - in a lot of cases, the LBS will do things cheaper in any case (a wheel's worth of spokes is cheaper, Carradice is generally the same, or cheaper). I buy plenty of books at Blackwells because I can have them there and then.

Not an internet thing, but we have a bakery at the end of our road that's bloody brilliant - so we get our bread there, not at the supermarket.

 

[GilesM]

I usually try to buy stuff made in Britain, I think it's important, not possible for everything, but there's alot of good stuff available if you look.

 

[GilesM]

Would it have been better for him to have soldiered-on in the UK and gone bust?

Perhaps the problem is his product, Numatic still make the Henry in Somerset and it works. Dyson moved to a land of cheap labour and carried on charging premium brand prices.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I think Carradice still make most of their bags in the UK. I certainly think they're worth the extra money!

Christine made mine, 'appen as like she's from t' north.

 

[Moodyman]

But even a new type of label, a sort of fair trade plus, wouldn't be enough to stop the rot. Wages have been depressed enough, and expectations raised, that people have little choice but to buy the cheapest imports possible, it's all they can afford. No campaign, or labelling, will be able to overcome that, it requires long term national and global strategy.

Germany and Japan are next exporters - very large ones in fact. Their wages are amongst the highest in the world, yet, their companies compete successfully with cheaper manufacturers.

British companies that excel in their field are also thriving, but there are so few of these.

If we continue to produce middle-of-the road things and expect folks to pay a premium then we're mistaken.

To survive, British manufacturers need to produce world leading products. Rolls Royce and Bentley have no problem selling £300k cars (made in GB) to the Chinese. But why it taken the Germans to make these products desirable?

 

[Fletch456]

+1 To buying best value and if it's British then that's a bonus and all the better.

I came across ShuttVR.com a while ago, Yorkshire based and young - a cycle clothing company now doing a range from caps, to a polo to longs to a range of jerseys and more - since then have come to know them and found they have it made in factories in the north. One factory wrote them a letter thanking them for an order cos it helped keep the factory open a couple of Christmases ago.

Not the cheapest gear in the world but then I rarely buy the cheapest but join their club room (no fee and little effort required) for 10% off or if going to the cycle show this week they were giving out vouchers last year which I think they will be doing again.

The pad in the shorts is very very good indeed.