John Lewis has stepped up its backing for products made in UK in a bid to entrench the “Buy British” mantra more deeply in the national psyche.
In 2012, the department-store chain – well known for its eye-catching marketing campaigns – sold £480 million-worth of UK-sourced products – a 9% increase on the previous year. However, the firm now wants to expand its home-grown lines by an further 15% up to 2015, totalling £550m. To aid this effort, John Lewis has grown its UK supplier base from 132 firms to 207 in the past year.
The chain has also slapped a “Made in UK” sticker on more than 10,000 of its domestically made products to highlight and promote UK design and quality.
Its decision to promote British products could be a response to the work of business-based campaign groups such as BuyBritish.co.uk, which has worked to rouse support for British products and businesses as small, high street shops are driven out of business by larger national chains – who typically import most of their goods from abroad.
Cynics would argue that the Buy British campaign has been fuelled by the need for UK companies to hastily re-shore, following difficulties with supply quality and labour-cost rises in the Far East. Small travel-accessories firm Patrona, for example, has halted production in China following “disastrous” dealings with foreign suppliers – its founder Andrew Brundan stating: “If we can’t make products in the UK, we won’t make anything at all.”
However, the trend is picking up for other reasons: online supplier Bathrooms.com has shifted 25% of its overseas manufacturing back to the UK to be more responsive to style trends and reduce delivery times. Plus, the bathroom retailer plans to invest £2.5m in UK suppliers in the next year.
Either way, the trend is partly responsible for the surge in UK manufacturing. Last month, the nation’s production output experienced its strongest growth for two years. According to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), production rose to 52.5 this June – its highest since May 2011. Any reading above 50 indicates growth in the sector.
Far from being a PR ploy, John Lewis’s move looks to be part of a wider, long-term strategy to back British suppliers and producers for the right reasons.
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