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To be fair, we still produce some pretty good food - smoked salmon, cheese, meat, game, fruit etc and their products. They may sometimes be more expensive than the imported stuff in the supermarkets, but still within the reach of most people even if you only have them as an occasional treat.

We are the second biggest car manufacturer in Europe

We are global players in aerospace, pharmaceuticals and erm, arms

We are creating a tech hub in App development only behind Silicon Valley

We have a renaissance in specialist and high end film production and have global expertise in many animation/special effects

We are developing expertise in some very new materials technology graphene etc

We export our TV formats and ideas globally

We are actually doing quite well in a large number of high value growth areas in manufacturing and in many of these 'creative manufacturing' areas

We have also of course still have a ginormous service sector that adds massive value including global leadership in many financial services and related high value areas ( boo hiss from stage left)



...what we don,t have any more is half a million plus miners doing dirty dangeorous jobs producing high pollutant energy, 200,000 in producing steel, a global commodity, or half a million in shipbuilding or dockers.


We aren't doing that bad

I think men's shoes are much better catered for. Northampton is still the centre of Britannia's sole.


Loakes

Grensons

Trickers

Crockett and Jones

Barkers

Altberg hiking boots


It's mostly higher end stuff that carries a premium price because few people think like you RPC and simply want cheap and disposable. It's a consumer issue as much as a manufacturing one.

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We are the second biggest car manufacturer in

> Europe

> We are global players in aerospace,

> pharmaceuticals and erm, arms

> We are creating a tech hub in App development only

> behind Silicon Valley

> We have a renaissance in specialist and high end

> film production and have global expertise in many

> animation/special effects

> We are developing expertise in some very new

> materials technology graphene etc

> We export our TV formats and ideas globally

> We are actually doing quite well in a large number

> of high value growth areas in manufacturing and in

> many of these 'creative manufacturing' areas

> We have also of course still have a ginormous

> service sector that adds massive value including

> global leadership in many financial services and

> related high value areas ( boo hiss from stage

> left)

>

>

> ...what we don,t have any more is half a million

> plus miners doing dirty dangeorous jobs producing

> high pollutant energy, 200,000 in producing steel,

> a global commodity, or half a million in

> shipbuilding or dockers.

>

> We aren't doing that bad


Think that's stretching it a bit - I was talking more about tangible stuff that ordinary people use day to day and which twenty or thirty years ago could be relied on to be decent quality, and how some brands now seem sell 'Britishness' as an associated idea rather than British materials or workmanship. M&S is an example - the women's clothes on the whole aren't much better quality than you might find on a market stall. Perhaps it's partly partly the Primark / TK Maxx effect, I don't know.


I like the Barbour example; I didn't know they were all still made here.

Well it was my mate's dad who was head of the design team for the main platform (which was made here...errr there, in the UK) for the Rosetta mission. We should be pretty proud of that, huge British input. He's retired now, shows how long these things take.


Here's a photo he took, 15 years ago!!!




She (my friend) lives in Oz now in case that vodafone thingy is confusing.

RPC - not sure if it's your style but http://www.old-town.co.uk/ do, imo, marvellous British workwear of a pre-war ethos.


I have some of their stuff and it's bomb proof.


Hiut Denim in Wales is another great micro-maker of top quality.

steveo Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Pearls, gems, precious metals and coins:

> ?58,544,016,505 (18 per cent of total exports)


This is probably mainly due to people selling off reserves of bullion... it's not like we're exporting huge amounts of jewels or anything.

david_carnell Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> RPC - not sure if it's your style but

> http://www.old-town.co.uk/ do, imo, marvellous

> British workwear of a pre-war ethos.

>

> I have some of their stuff and it's bomb proof.

>


Thanks. I could see myself wearing one or two of these in the right fabric.


Just remembered another great one: http://www.johnsmedley.com/

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