POLL RESULTS: Does it help sell a bike if it is made in Britain?

With UK manufacturing back in the headlines, we thought the time was right to poll the trade on their thoughts on the sector’s impact at retail.

We asked: “Does it help a product sell if it is made in Britain?” and the greater number of respondents said yes, it does help. The vast majority – 65.85 per cent – were in the affirmative.

[NOTE: These results have been updated since we ran them in our January edition of BikeBiz, in our community page, sponsored by Oxford Products, due to further survey responses.]

It was those more doubtful of the impact of UK-made fare that had the most to say on the topic. A quarter of respondents said it didn’t make a difference one way or the other, with respondents making points like “It’s quality, not origin” and “It is on the approach to the customer that you can sell the item or not. Not about where it is made.”

The minority – 14.63 per cent – flatly said that whether a product was made in the UK didn’t help sell a product. While perhaps aspirational, the added cost was off putting, one commenter said: “People like the idea but are not willing to pay the extra.”

Meanwhile another respondent made a broader point about the importance of product made for the UK, rather than in the UK: “Designed in the UK is a better selling point.”

Share your thoughts with us at BikeBiz@nbmedia.com or in the comments below.

Read our latest report on UK manufacturing or take a look at the rest of our bike industry polls.