What is Britain Good At?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

As a follow on to Generali's excellent thread about job creation, this article discussing what Britain is good at may be worth a look.

A recent report on globalisation by the Institute for Public Policy Research described "a journey of perpetual movement up the value chain" for developed countries.

That report sought to cross-reference those sectors where the UK has a global competitive advantage, and where demand will be driven by the burgeoning wealth of the BRICs and their satellites.

It's an important question that should guide where the country invests financial, political and human capital. But it could also be a pointer to future investment success. Companies in sectors where the country has a competitive advantage should benefit from a network effect. And better to invest in a company riding the up escalator than one swimming against the tide, to mix a couple of metaphors.

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/2012/02/07/what-is-britain-good-at.aspx

chewmylegoff

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

As a follow on to Generali's excellent thread about job creation, this article discussing what Britain is good at may be worth a look.





http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/2012/02/07/what-is-britain-good-at.aspx

Hmmmm, financial services competitive advantage.

Quick, buy RBS shares!

Generali

Financial services is pretty obvious but education can be a great earner.

Sydney is full of young Asian (by which I mean from all of Asia, not the Indian subcontinent alone) students who pay through the nose for an education that demonstrates a capacity for learning rather than the money to buy off the professors. They also get to learn the lingua franca to a fluent standard while they are here. If memory serves, education is Australia's second biggest export after primary products (food and minerals). Britain has some excellent brands ('Oxford', 'Cambridge', Eton, Harrow etc).

chewmylegoff

Even unheard of schools can sell their product abroad. My old school, which was a decent but nothing special grant-maintained boarding school embarked on an overseas strategy about 5 years after left. Pretty soon about 10% of the children were from china, presumably paying about 5x the fees that everyone else paid.

It was an interesting approach. Being grant maintained, the education costs For overseas children were (I assume) met by the government, but the school (a registered charity of course), was making a massive wedge out of the fees it was charging. Still that money was spent on infrastructure at the school so benefited the uk pupils I suppose.

ruggedtoast

And you may as well take HE out of there now as our government is doing everything it can to stop cash rich international students coming here, and spectacularly succeeding. We've lost about £400 million from India alone this year.

Legal services, there is a demand for those in bric countries but even commonwealth countries now have different legal systems to us so it isn't one we are well placed to cater to.

Aerospace, hasn't helped us just now against Rafale.

Financial services, yeah, envy of the world.

Tourism, again, within those countries. Our ability to supply tourism came from HE courses, which the coalition has killed of overnight.

Pharmaceuticals, yes.

Fashion? I think gok wan plays on some hotel channels in Malaysia.

lostinrates

There is a problem with overselling branded education. My school found that too many overseas students had a couple of problems. These are not insurmountable, but worth considering for those hoping to expand upon them

1. Many only wanted to come for one to two years. This had a knock on impact on the collegiate afmosphere meant to be fostered and considered a bonus of 'schools like that'. Imo, the bonus of this now is that world connections can be made, mot just british ones, and cultural understanding instilled in the young.

2. Success in advertising often happened in one or two key places. This meant new students grouped, and the benefit of living in english language was severly diminished, as were benefits. My younger niece finds this tonbe a very big problem at her school still.

lostinrates

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Fashion? I think gok wan plays on some hotel channels in Malaysia.

Top shop has been hugely influential.

At the other end of the scale we have stella macartney, vivian westwood, paul smith, alexander macqueen,temperly among a lot of succcesful british designer brands as well as houses with a british theme and sometimes actuality....mulberry, buberry, pringle.......

Now if those brands were all making in uk it would be even better.

Britain does have a fashion reputation, not for sophistication like paris and new york, or neceasrily quality like milan, but for cutting edge design and trend setting britain has done really well. The influence of some of the historic prestige brands is something britain and europe can really sell to outside europe, and contantly reappears in the fashion cycle.

lostinrates

[QUOTE=ruggedtoast;51300059

Legal services, there is a demand for those in bric countries but even commonwealth countries now have different legal systems to us so it isn't one we are well placed to cater [/QUOTE]

Ahh, this too is slightly mot right. In international law practise london can play a vital role, not least as bridge between rest f europ and the rest of world.....partly by virtue of the langauge. British offices of international groups. Are often key.

As for legal system....well, international law works acroos legal systems all the time.

There is no doubt a divorce in australiasia between australasians is not going to be best handled by a high street law firm in uk somewhere, but corporate law works across international systems evry minute of every day. Dh, a solicitor of england and wales, does very little england and wales law...but rather international law. This is an internatinal market which uk really is up there with them.

Generali

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Financial services, yeah, envy of the world.

You say that but the UK is still the largest place in the world for transacting foreign exchange.

The thing is that there is a level of expertise around some parts of the financial services industry that is unparalleled anywhere in the world. That hasn't gone anywhere (apart from the bits that have gone to India).

ruggedtoast

Generali wrote: »

Financial services is pretty obvious but education can be a great earner.

Sydney is full of young Asian (by which I mean from all of Asia, not the Indian subcontinent alone) students who pay through the nose for an education that demonstrates a capacity for learning rather than the money to buy off the professors. They also get to learn the lingua franca to a fluent standard while they are here. If memory serves, education is Australia's second biggest export after primary products (food and minerals). Britain has some excellent brands ('Oxford', 'Cambridge', Eton, Harrow etc).

Australia currently offers a two year Post Study Work Visa (PSW) to international graduates, and is moving to almost a lifetime PSW for grads who find a job after studying in Australia.

They, and Canada are taking acres of our hard won market share in international education thanks to barely two years of coalition insanity.

Our government courting Daily Mail approval on immigration, decided to target legitimate students to reduce "foreigners". The 2 year PSW the UK had has been reduced to a no year PSW. Overnight this has decimated our ability to sell education as an export, as the work experience at the end of a one year masters degree is seen as being as important as the degree before returning home.

In 2010 55,000 cash rich Indians arrived in the UK to study, this year it was barely 30,000. Those 30,000 students, holding legitimate offers from British universities, and having already spent thousands in non refundable deposits, booking accommodation and paying tuition fees, can now expect to be pulled aside and interrogated by some border official who doesnt have one A level, to test they can "speak English".

It is absurd and has wrecked a billion pound industry overnight. You have a middle class Engineering graduate from Delhi University being roasted over the coals at border control by some goon as he tries to get to his MEng course in Leeds, where he cant even do 6 months of work afterwards, and meanwhile thousands of unemployed Eastern Europeans stride past unnoticed to sign on,or work where they please.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

ruggedtoast wrote: »

And you may as well take HE out of there now as our government is doing everything it can to stop cash rich international students coming here, and spectacularly succeeding. We've lost about £400 million from India alone this year.

I work at one of the UK's top universities- no shortage of overseas applicants here. I think we have 10 candidates for every place on our undergraduate course.

We have been awarded several research grants recently and are really struggling with recruitment. The dearth of top drawer UK graduates gets worse every year.

Edit to add: UK horseracing and bloodstock is still amongst the best in the world. Attendance for race meetings is holding up well in the downturn, especially at the premier events.