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We recently conducted a survey of 1,000 UK adults to find out if consumers are aware of the origins of their favourite brands and test their knowledge of PLCs. Results show that consumers are baffled by the origins of their favourite “British” brands, with half (50%) of adults unaware Tetley Tea is owned by a foreign company.

Respondents incorrectly thought that many of our store cupboard favourites, such as Tetley Tea (50%), Branston Pickle (42%), HP Sauce (37%) and Heinz (27%), were British when they are actually Indian, Japanese and American.

Companies with less traditionally British sounding names such as Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Schroders and Antofagasta were also incorrectly identified. Less than 10% (5%, 7% and 3% respectively) of the public thought they were British, when they are actually all based in Britain.

When asked about businesses in the FTSE 100, the research found 95% of UK adults have heard of the five biggest companies, but thought high street names were bigger players in the market than they actually are.

Almost one in five (19%) thought Tesco was the biggest company in Britain, even though it only

represents 0.84% of the market share. This compares to HSBC, the actual first place, that represents

5.47%.

Research also showed that one in four (25%) don’t know what a PLC is. A PLC is a company whose shares can be sold to the public.

Over half (61%) think that Jet2 Holidays and over a quarter (26%) think that Tesco are part of wider PLCs, when in fact they are PLCs in their own right.

The beauty industry seemed to be a major cause for confusion, as more people think Lush is

part of a wider PLC (52%) than The Body Shop (39%), when in fact The Body Shop, once a PLC in its own right, became part of L’oreal in March 2006.

The research shows that people are very much influenced by the physical presence of companies when it comes to estimating their size and origins. Sometimes clever branding from parent companies can disguise our favourite brands as British, so they become part of our culture. Many of these brands started off as local independent companies, and later became part of a wider PLC based overseas such as Cadbury, Walker Crisps and Newcastle Brown Ale.

However, their British heritage is still enough to convince the UK population that they’re investing their money with a domestic company.

Disclaimer:

Spread Co is an execution only service provider. The material on this page is for general information purposes only, and does not take into account your personal circumstances or objectives. Nothing in this material is (or should be considered to be) financial, investment or other advice on which reliance should be placed. No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by Spread Co Ltd or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person.

Posted by David Morrison

Category: PM Bulletin

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