Until you start to really think about where trade is carried out, and what impact this has on a local community then it’s a difficult question to answer. But start breaking down how the product is supplied and sold and you soon start to see a much bigger picture. Consider just for a moment the employees of a business and their families, probably based close to the place of work. These might include staff involved in the manufacture, delivery, administration, sales, and many other ancillary employees bringing the product to you. That chain of people are obviously relying on their salaries, and just as importantly they are spending their money locally as well.
It’s well documented what can happen to a town or city when a major employer shuts down for any reason, and the entire infrastructure of a once vibrant populace falls into a desperate poverty stricken ghost town. Detroit in the USA, mining towns in the North of the UK are all good examples. To a lesser degree the impact can be seen on High Streets as big retail parks and supermarkets open just out of town, and it’s the small independent traders from the old High Streets who quickly disappear. Some might call this progress and just a shift in working patterns, but others might point out the loss of a community’s spirit, and what is that worth? And with the loss of the small independents you may also lose some considerable market knowledge, as specialists in their field are forced to close their businesses.
Whilst the chain of businesses involved is not always clear when purchasing a product, there are some basic general rules a buyer can decide on, like trying to buy British sourced produce or goods. At least then we are serving our local economy and not other countries, but is it easy to tell when you’re buying British? In the world of insurance it certainly isn’t. When you look at some of the well-known insurer brands you may think their British but a lot aren’t. We searched Google for the top 10 UK insurers and 4 out of ten answers were overseas insurers, foreign companies simply trading in the UK. So how do you buy British in the insurance industry?? Well you could start with a local high street broker like ourselves, and we can steer the business in the right direction from our vast panel of insurers.
Is it economical to buy British? Not always, but there are some home-grown bargains in some industries, and we are very lucky in the insurance world to have Lloyds of London on our doorstep. This collection of underwriters isn’t truly British, with lots of international insurers having their stalls set out, but that’s what makes this industry one of the most competitive in the world. And competition is great for the consumer. We have access to some 140 insurers and schemes for our clients, so you can be very sure premiums are as low as possible, and we can identify when operations are UK based so at least you know there’s no foreign call centres to deal with.
We’re proud to be British, and we care for our local economy, and without becoming Un-competitive it is possible to keep business local! Contact us to find out more about AIC and it’s rich heritage.
