Tannoy: Britishness not a factor in UK success

Tannoy has told TechRadar that major UK tech brands can simply not rely on their Britishness to sell products, with performance and design considered far more important than where it was made.

The AV brand from Scotland is one of Britain's most familiar tech names, but although Britain has an enviable reputation in high end audio kit, there is no 'buy UK' culture.

"Some AV and Hi-Fi buyers are serious anglophiles and love the history and heritage of famous British brands, but generally the British buyer is more sensitive to absolutes like performance and design rather than geographic company ownership," said Tim Lount, the vice president of Tannoy.

"Just look at British roads – no other country in the world has such a diverse range of makes, models and even types of car driving up and down the country.

"British brands cannot simply rely on their Britishness to sell in the UK and have to constantly produce products at the cutting edge of technical and aesthetic design."

Our failure to put our own products over other nations' exports is not the only problem, with price a serious consideration for the UK mass market.

"Being British based you simply cannot build a product in the UK to compete at the entry level of the AV market," added Lount.

"To hit price points of today's affordable speakers you need to design a speaker in the UK and outsource manufacturing to trusted suppliers in Eastern Europe or the Far East.

"While getting excellent quality from these suppliers is no longer the issue it once was, simple logistics, language and transport issues are always an ongoing challenge."