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British brands enjoy burst of popularity

Chancellor George Osborne might be desperate for a “march of the makers”, but Britain’s most “valuable” companies are far more likely to be selling mobile phones than manufacturing, research has revealed.

Britain’s most “valuable” companies are far more likely to be selling mobile phones than manufacturing, research has revealed.
Service companies dominate the 'top 50 companies of British origin'

Insurers, banks and financial services companies, and utilities dominate the top 50 firms of British origin by “brand value”, according to analysts Brand Finance.

The ranking, based on the “value of reputation” and “what it would cost someone else to own the brand”, as well as financial performance, puts Vodafone in the number one spot. Rival phone networks BT and Orange both make the top 10.

Brand Finance added that companies that made a virtue of their “Britishness” had performed well. Of the 10 brands that have grown in value the most in the past year, five are consumer-facing companies that “make their British origin a focal point of their marketing”.

While 12 of the top 50 are now owned by foreign parent companies, the list’s compilers said overseas ownership does not appear to have adversely affected the “brand perceptions” of the likes of Cadbury and Mini, owned by US food giant Kraft and Germany’s BMW respectively.

Barclays and HSBC join oil giants Shell and BP and supermarket Tesco in the top 10, alongside professional service firms PwC and KPMG.

The top 50 also includes news agency Thomson Reuters, mining company Rio Tinto and pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline alongside familiar consumer brands such as Burberry.