partly explained by recognition that growing imports affected all CBI members. To address the problem of import penetration, British Leyland launched an independent campaign, and its chairman Sir Michael Edwardes, arranged a lunch, involving senior directors of Debenhams, Marks and Spencer, The National Coal Board, and Sainsbury’s, the National Farmers Union, to discuss a possible campaign. The CBI was at the forefront of a series of publicity events, and displays involving prominent British firms to and make It? A Challenge to British ‘Win Through Better Buying’ ‘Can You Industry’. The latter occurred in London, Nottingham, Solihull and Haydock Park. In launching its campaign, the CBI was adamant that it would not support an unqualified or patriotic appeal to British consumers. It recognized that a publicity campaign on a scale large enough to be effective was too expensive; it was concerned that such initiatives would be perceived as an attempt to own undermine consumers’ preferences ad that hostile critics would claim it was an of Moreover, ‘admission defeat’. diverted attention (and resources) from what it perceived to be the most ‘Buy British’ important task: improving the competitiveness of British exports, independently of any Buy British campaign. Even a qualified campaign was considered suspect ‘Buy British’ until an extra guarantee of quality and this ‘British made’ – considered, ‘some distance In any case, the CBI acknowledged appears to be in a unique away’. that: ‘Britain position amongst other nations in having to even consider campaigns to persuade its people to buy its own products’. The CBI concluded that the impact of its scheme was limited. It estimated that the exhibitions resulted in new quotations valued between £15-£20m, whereas the total annual expenditure on all exhibited items was around £100m. The Confederation conducted a survey of the exhibitors which revealed that the single biggest factor why so little new business was done was the inability of British manufacturers to compete on price. The second biggest explanation was the inability to meet requied technical specifications.
partly explained by recognition that growing imports affected all CBI members. To address the problem of import penetration, British Leyland launched an independent campaign, and its chairman Sir Michael Edwardes, arranged a lunch, involving senior directors of Debenhams, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, The National Coal Board, and the National Farmers Union, to discuss a possible campaign. The CBI was at the forefront of a series of publicity events, and displays involving prominent British firms to ‘Win Through Better Buying’ and ‘Can You make It? A Challenge to British Industry’. The latter occurred in London, Nottingham, Solihull and Haydock Park. In launching its campaign, the CBI was adamant that it would not support an unqualified or patriotic appeal to British consumers. It recognized that a publicity campaign on a scale large enough to be effective was too expensive; it was concerned that such initiatives would be perceived as an attempt to undermine consumers’ own preferences ad that hostile critics would claim it was an ‘admission of defeat’. Moreover, ‘Buy British’ diverted attention (and resources) from what it perceived to be the most important task: improving the competitiveness of British exports, independently of any Buy British campaign. Even a qualified ‘Buy British’ campaign was considered suspect until ‘British made’ an extra guarantee of quality – and this considered, ‘some distance away’. In any case, the CBI acknowledged that: ‘Britain appears to be in a unique position amongst other nations in having to even consider campaigns to persuade its people to buy its own products’. The CBI concluded that the impact of its scheme was limited. It estimated that the exhibitions resulted in new quotations valued between £15-£20m, whereas the total annual expenditure on all exhibited items was around £100m. The Confederation conducted a survey of the exhibitors which revealed that the single biggest factor why so little new business was done was the inability of British manufacturers to compete on price. The second biggest explanation was the inability to meet requied technical specifications.
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