Buying British

[NorthernWave]

Why don't people buy british.

The vast majority of boats available here in the UK are british built and we all love them. (mostly)

But why don't we buy british cars (whats left of them)
Gone are the build quality issues of the 70's, 80's
British make the best chassis's thus best drivers cars. (note we make most F1 chassis's)
Better for the british economy etc etc

British Electrical goods?????
Are there any left?

Where will the uk end up?

Chris




FIXED IT!!! So good being an inny!!!

 

[MedDreamer]

With regard to boats, I wish I could buy british but the only boats that meet all our personal criteria regarding age, cost and size are all American mass produced.

When, probably in the next two years, we take the plunge to invest (if thats the right word) in a bigger boat it will certainly be british. The reason? - sadly not to be patriotic but in the £100K to £200K range british boats appear very competitive and (rightly or wrongly) I have confidence in their build quality.

We live in a world market and as a consumer I, and nearly everyone else, take advantage of this. This is a fact of life as I well know as MD of a specialost engineering company manufscturing in the UK but competing in a world market against far east production.

Martyn

 

[DepSol]

I would buy a british boat if I could get the same sort of deal that I do with the European ones.

Some people might say the British ones are better finished or slightly better quality but even on my last purchase to get something similar British it would have cost me an extra £25k at least and £25k pays for a lot of things to be adjusted not that you wouldnt have to pay extra on a British boat to have things to your taste any way.

The price difference is too great, take a Jeanneau Prestige 46 for £300k new with electronics and extras like comfort pack fitted and in the water with warranties etc. What can I buy British of that size NEW to match it?

Dom

2003 is going to be a good year for me

 

[andrewa]

This is true and sad fact, when buying stuff I look at the stickers and ask though most sales people don't have clue. All our kitchen appliances are either made or assembled in Britain, my car is one of the last old model Primeras and has now 12000 miles and is faultless it was made in the North East where my wife comes from (I gave up an expensive and unreliable A4 Audi when I opted out of the company car) even our carpets and 3 piece leather suite are made in Britain. Obviously alot of stuff is foreign i.e pc, cameras etc, but I do try and buy British when I can and I do check. My wine is new world Australia or USA. BUT my boat I am afraid is a used American Sea Ray, I couldn't and can't afford a Fairline that I want at present but when I can I will.



By the way did you know that the Indie car racing in the US use British chassis I think I am correct anyway, i'm sure someone on the forum will put me right if not.

Andy

 

[jfm]

There are loads of British cars (rant)

Hmmm. The buy british cars argument is a bit mixed up imho. What is a british car? Is it....1. Totally british, ie made in UK with mostly UK components by a british-owned firm? Or 2. made in UK but by a foreign owned firm?

If answer is 1 then the choice is Noble, TVR, black taxi, and Rover, and possibly a few I missed out. Not many of those are going to be sold. If the answer is 2 then some Fords are included like Transit, Focus and Fiesta I think, and also lots of Nissan, Toyota, Jag, Voxhall (not sure if Luton dead now?), Lotus, Aston Martin, etc etc.

IMHO the correct definition of british car is 2, in which case loads of people driving nissan/toyota etc ARE buying british. The press has got it all wrong. These cars are british becuase they're built by british employees in british factories paying british taxes on the production profits, and that's enough imho. The thing that isn't british is the parent company/shareholder that owns them. So what? The very same people/newspapers who lament the loss of british car manufacturing generally agree that foreign capital flows into a country are a good thing. That's exactly what the Ford Nissan Toyota Jag etc firms are - they are foreign capital flows into britain, a good thing. So these "buy british" commentators are talking out of both sides of their mouth imho.

Cars have to be built by massive firms else joe public couldn't afford one, at least not one with aircon, ABS, CD, esr. To be accessible to joe public, cars need to be built by companies with $100billion market cap. The UK isn't big enough to have indiginous companies that big, too often. We have say 20m workers here. The combined wealth in our pension funds, savings and pockets isn't enough to have a load of GMs and Fords. But no matter, what makes the UK economically strong (in part) is high level of foreign inward investment.

The fact is that if a foreign person has 100 quid or dollars or yen in his pocket (or his pension fund, or his savings.....) then that IS foreign capital. Nothing will ever change that. Short of kidnapping the person who owns that money and making him live in UK. So the return on that capital will always go to its owner, a foreigner. Now, there is a lot more foreign capital than british, becos only 55m peeps here. BUT what makes a relatively successful economy is if you can persuade all those foreigners to invest their capital in manufacturing/services here, becos then britain benefits from the profits of the activity performed in UK, like building the cars or whatever. The UK is very successful at attracting inward capital flows, and many brits employed by UK owned firms, and this is a good thing. Do you care about being customer of Odeon Cinemas, Dollond Aitchison, Hozelock hosepipes, Bacofoil, NCP car parks, Autotrader, Little Chef, Travelodge, most pubs, United Biscuits, Kwik Fit, IPC mags, Halfords, most off licences? These seem british, but they're mostly foreign owned. So what? It's a good thing.

And final point. Fairline/Sealine/Princess are thought of generally and in your post as british, but they've been foreign owned for years. Thus, if they are "Bristish boats" (and I think they are), then loads of nissan, jag, toyota, ford, voxhall etc are "british cars".

So, in summary, there ARE loads of bristish cars sold in UK. Your question was, where will UK end up - Answer - in great shape. All imho. Anyway, whaddo I know, we have a merc, a beemer and a fiat so I'd better shut up

 

[tico]

Wouldnt bet about buying British boats ???
Experience from LIBS..... Looking for a 32-34 ft flybridge

Fairline.... 'sorry sir we dont p**s about with little boats, only talk to us if youve got 250k of readys, then i might acknoledge you.

Sunseeker....... 'ditto'

Sealine.... 'wait a minute while i finish my ever so exciting phone call to my mate about his bird last weekend, have a look at this, yes i know you cant stand up at the helm and you can only have tiddly engines but theres nothing wrong with that'

Beneteau.....decently designed boat that can be used, attentive, friendly salesman and 25-30k cheaper than British

Jeanneau.... ditto

As perry Mason would say.... 'I rest my case'

<dons tin helmet and proban overalls>

Been there, done that, got the oily T shirt

 

[Chris771]

That's why I ended up buying an Antares, there is nothing equivalent built in Britain at a price that I can afford. So next best thing to British has to be EC built.

Chris

 

[chippie]

200 thousand pounds sterling is getting close to a custom or semi custom built price in NZ.
What sort of output per anum do the big production companies have in the over 40' range?

 

[jfm]

Ministerial intervention

By eck! Geoff Hoon lurks on this forum. Anyway he's confirmed the position. His bolx notion is that anything with majority non-UK proprietors/shareholders is foreign. Therefore Sealine, Fairline, Princess are not British boats, and Nissan/Toyota/Mini are not British cars. The only British cars are Nobles and TVRs and mebbe Rover. It's official.

 

[martinb]

As a British Production Engineer this is an issue close to my heart.
We make a point of allways bying British wherever we can, even second hand i.e. our cars (both Rover)
Sometimes it is a real struggle, when we were looking for a new washing machine and asked the country of origin the spotty youths invariably looked alarmed and ran for support.
I think we all have a duty to support our own economy instead of Haemorrhaging money on imported luxury goods and blaming the goverment for all ills. All IMHO of course.

Martin