History UsefulNotes / BritishBusinesses

* Lidl and Aldi - The two German supermarkets have quickly become known in Britain for cheap, non-brand stock. As a result, they're kind of the opposite of Waitrose in British fiction.[[note]]Aldi has much the same reputation in America, generally only being found in the ghetto... although that applies only for stores that operate under the Aldi name. Trader Joe's, similar to Aldi but more upscale, specialising more in natural/organic products, is part of Aldi. (Technically, Aldi is two separate companies, each owned by a different branch of the founding Albrecht family. Aldi in the US and UK is owned by one branch, Trader Joe's by the other.)[[/note]] Following the 2008 recession, these two supermarkets have gradually gained traction amongst the middle class market which has seen its income squeezed, with Aldi in particular being held to increasingly higher regard.

One of Britain' thriving industries, the second or third largest in the world depending on standard of measurement. [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_industry_in_the_United_Kingdom article]] on the subject. Should be brought up whenever people in the pub moan that Britain doesn't make things. The British aerospace industry has made many important contributions to the history of aircraft, and was solely or jointly responsible for the development and production of the first aircraft with an enclosed cabin (the Avro Type F), the first jet aircraft to enter service for the Allies in the Second World War (the Gloster Meteor), the first commercial jet airliner to enter service (the de Havilland Comet) the first aircraft capable of supercruise (the English Electric Lightning), the first supersonic commercial jet airliner to enter service (the Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde), the first fixed-wing V/STOL combat aircraft to enter service (the Hawker Siddeley Harrier), the first twin-engined widebody commercial jet airliner (the Airbus A300), the first fly-by-wire commercial aircraft (the Airbus A320), and the largest commercial aircraft to enter service to date (the Airbus A380). Britain would also have been the first to break the sound barrier had the United States kept its post-war technology sharing agreements, instead of letting the British share their engine and aerodynamic designs with them and then pulling an ILied.

* Reaction Engines Limited. A tiny company founded by a collection of boffins[[note]]Note to Americans: "[[UsefulNotes/BritishEnglish boffin]]"="nerd," "geek," "egghead".[[/note]] in 1989, it deserves to be noted for the breathtaking ambition of its current projects, the Skylon and the A2. Essentially, a traditional "garden-sheds and dreams" company is trying to go where giants of the space and aviation world have failed by creating a single stage to orbit spaceplane to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life, and new civilizations - no wait, instead they want to create a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon_(spacecraft) single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft]] (essentially what the next Space Shuttle ''should'' look like) that could carry 15 tonnes or ''30'' people[[note]]No spacecraft has ever carried more than ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-61-A eight]]'', and no more than about 10-12 people have every been in space at once[[/note]] to space in one go at 4% of the cost per kilogram of conventional rockets, and a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_Engines_A2 green hypersonic airliner]] that could travel from Brussels to Sydney in just over 4 and a half hours (the trip today takes a full day). As of 2013, the various tests have gone off [[http://www.gizmag.com/sabre-engine-skylon/25218/ swimmingly]]. Watch this space.

** Oddly, however, it has a [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff huge following on the Arabian Peninsula]] as the drink for the ''iftar'' (fast-breaking meal during [[UsefulNotes/IslamicHolidaysAndFestivals Ramadan]]).

* Ribena - A fruit cordial made from blackcurrants. Nearly the entire blackcurrant crop of the UK and in Ireland is bought out to make this drink. It is not a small crop either, blackcurrants are very popular in the UK for cordial, juice, or as an ingredient in dessert cookery. Available in the regular, highly sugared, variety and a sugar-free "toothkind" variety. Ribena has tried breaking into the market for non-blackcurrant cordials, but hasn't had mixed sucess.

* [= FirstGroup =] - another Scottish-based bus, coach and rail firm. Runs the Greater Western franchise (i.e. the Westcountry and certain commuter and regional services west of London). ''Magazine/PrivateEye'' [[MaliciousMisnaming likes to call them]] "[=WorstGroup=]", which many of their more disgruntled customers like to use as well.
** Also has large operations in the US: First purchased Greyhound Lines in 2007, and later established the [=BoltBus=] discount service (under pressure from Megabus and the [[FriendlyLocalChinatown Chinatown bus services]]) under the Greyhound brand. It also owns the school bus subcontracting giant First Student, and many other operations besides.

* Jenners is the rough equivalent in Scotland; royal warrants still in place, although it's now owned by House of Fraser.

* Tesco (not, in fact, "Tesco's")- controlling about 30% of the grocery market, it's the biggest British retailer, at least in UK operations. Not too long ago, it was the third-largest retailer of any type in the world (only UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} and Carrefour beat it), but it's now out of the top 10.[[note]]Top 10 as of July 2020: Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Schwarz Gruppe (i.e. Lidl), Kroger, Walgreens Boots Alliance (yes, ''that'' Boots; see below), The Home Depot, Aldi, Carrefour, [=JD.com=][[/note]] It's a somewhat controversial firm, being accused of labour exploitation, planning violations, being too big, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking grammar errors]]. Tried to expand into the US with fresh&easy, which promptly died on its arse. Has expanded into an incredible array of different markets, from financial products to mobile phones - it is quite possible, if somewhat inadvisable, to live while using only its products and services.

* Boots (sometimes suffixed "the Chemist", especially by older people - it was known as this and is now simply "Boots", but definitely NOT "Boot's"), a huge chain of chemists (read: pharmacies) that as well as dispensing medicines does most of its trade selling beauty and health products, along with a range of somewhat decent lunch foods and other such things (for reasons nobody quite understands). Extremely abundant - a reasonably sized city will likely have multiple within walking distance of each other and most towns will have one (e.g. Norwich has three in its city centre alone within five minutes' walk of each other, Portsmouth has five, Manchester at least ten) - although many of these stores are quite old and therefore fairly grotty and tatty. Now owned by Walgreens, with the combined company now the world's sixth-largest retailer (peaked at third in 2019), it's the retail segment of a large and well-respected pharmaceutical business that invented ibuprofen, amongst many other household names. Their No 7 own brand make-up range is internationally known and is even sold on QVC in the US, as well as US Walgreens locations.

* Morgan: A minor player specializing in handbuilt sports cars, still British owned but gets its engines from BMW and Ford.

* Wrightbus: Actually a Northern Irish company, based in Ballymena. Bus manufacturers like ADL, they pioneered the British version of low-floor buses preferred today for accessibility reasons, and make the double-deck [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Routemaster New Routemaster]], or "UsefulNotes/{{Boris|Johnson}}master". as it is called.

** The famous Lutine Bell is based at Lloyd's. The bell is the ship's bell of HMS ''Lutine'', an 18th-century French warship captured by the Royal Navy during the [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars Siege of Toulon of 1793]]; the ''Lutine'' sank while carrying a large sum of gold insured by Lloyd's, and when the underwriters paid out in full they gained a claim on the wreck. When they managed to pull the bell up from the wreck in 1858, Lloyd's claimed it, and started to use it as a signal to its underwriters: it would be rung once if a ship was lost, and twice if a ship feared lost had returned to port safely. This had a practical aspect to it; ringing a bell made sure that everyone heard the news at the same time, thus ensuring that nobody had any unfair advantages. However, back in TheSeventies, it developed a crack, and so to make sure it doesn't fall to pieces it is only rung on ceremonial occasions now--once for bad news, twice for good news.[[note]]By that point, of course, there were many other ways of ensuring that nobody had an unfair information advantage about the status of ships, so its informational purpose was no longer useful.[[/note]] The last time it rang once upon receiving bad news was the 2005 London Bombings; however, it also rings once annually at the end of the two minutes' silence on [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI Armistice Day]]. The Lutine Bell has rung twice a few times in recent years on the occasion of good royal news, including the birth of [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince George]] in 2013 and a visit by UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen and Prince Philip in 2014.

A note before we begin -- "Royal warrant" means, in essence, official supplier of the [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Royal Family]], or one of them. Holders of royal warrants are permitted to advertise this fact and to use some element of royal symbolism in their branding to bolster their reputations.[[note]]The British monarchy isn't the only one that does this--for instance, Toyota has an Imperial Warrant to supply automobiles to the Emperor of Japan--but the British monarchs have been doing it for a long time and there are quite a lot of British royal warrants out there.[[/note]]

* B&Q, short for Block & Quayle after its two founders, Richard Block and David Quayle, is essentially the UK equivalent to The Home Depot in the USA, though B&Q precedes it by 11 years, having been founded in 1969. B&Q stores are typically huge, warehouse-like buildings full of almost any material you might need, and also stock other goods such as plants, gardening supplies and inexpensive furniture.

* Asda - For a number of years owned by UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}}; suffice to say the name of the MMO "Asda Story" amuses Britons who see their ads. Has an ArtifactTitle - it was originally an abbreviation for Associated Dairies. For Americans and Canadians, the "George" clothing brand you see in Walmarts is an Asda brand that migrated across The Pond. In late 2020, the majority stake was sold by Walmart to the Issa brothers, bringing it back into British ownership.

* Lidl and Aldi - The two German supermarkets have quickly become known in Britain for cheap, non-brand stock. As a result, they're kind of the opposite of Waitrose in British fiction.[[note]]Aldi has much the same reputation in America, generally only being found in the ghetto... although that applies only for stores that operate under the Aldi name. Trader Joe's, similar to Aldi but more upscale, specialising more in natural/organic products, is part of Aldi. (Technically, Aldi is two separate companies, each owned by a different branch of the founding Albrecht family. Aldi in the US and UK is owned by one branch, Trader Joe's by the other.)[[/note]] Following the 2008 recession, these two supermarkets have gradually gained traction amongst the middle class market which has seen its income squeezed.
* Iceland - vaguely downmarket chain which focuses (as the name implies) on frozen food. Generally the food is not that bad considering the price paid; however it has a bad (and somewhat justified) reputation for selling cheap, unhealthy convenience food to people who don't know any better that it is trying desperately to shake off. This reputation has not been helped by its previous policy of "simple" rounded-to-the-nearest-pound priced goods (the implication being that Iceland's customers are confused by decimals), or its advertising which usually features former soap stars or other non-entity celebrities like Kerry Katona or Peter Andre. Its slogan was the vaguely sexist "Iceland makes it easy for mum", which was then warped into the cringeworthy "Because Mums are heroes" and finally dropped altogether.

* Argos - a long-standing and very unique retailer, owned by Sainsbury's since 2016. Argos shops tend to be rather barebones, as they don't display many if any goods. Instead, you pay for items at cash desks, unmanned payment terminals and online, and then collect these from a dedicated collection point. Because Argos doesn't have to worry about displaying goods in a pretty way, it can sell a ''huge'' variety of stock from what are otherwise rather small stores, and indeed it sells almost ''everything'' - from appliances to home furnishings to games consoles to plug adapters - from its vast catalogue of items.

* [=CeX=] (pronounced "sex"), a second-hand entertainment shop that sells used electronics, computer games, [=CDs=] and [=DVDs=]. Has an absolutely ''terrible'' reputation for customer service and also for its clientele, who are often assumed to be selling stolen goods for drug money (although it should be noted that the company does try and stop this by insisting on ID if you sell valuable goods to them). Still good for some bargains, although its buying prices aren't particularly wonderful. Accepts Bitcoin for some reason nobody can quite fathom, and did so before it even took American Express of all things.

** It's sometimes referred to as a "catalogue retailer" because for most of its history goods were selected from large, heavy paper catalogues that are roughly the size and weight of two house bricks - these still exist, however they're not as common as they once were as more sales take place online. The catalogue itself has a somewhat positive association in many Brits' minds, largely from childhoods spent flicking through the toy section and wishing you owned it all. Creator/BillBailey referred to it (or at least the laminated versions Argos themselves have in their shops alongside stock checker terminals) as the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggOa9aSG-Ow "laminated book of dreams"]], so laminated as to "catch the tears of joy" from beholding the vast quantities of goods available..

* Abellio, owned wholly by the Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Runs some local buses and a number of rail franchises. Much like Arriva, no longer uses its own name on its trains, the only former exception being Abellio Greater Anglia, which [[SarcasmMode obviously serves Wales]] and is now just called "Greater Anglia" (potentially to avoid brand damage due to their inheriting a basket case of a franchise). Runs rail services in Scotland under the [=ScotRail=] brand, and used to run them in the north of England as Northern.

* Arm Ltd (stylised as "arm") – Originally the processor design arm of Acorn and spun off in late 1990, it has continued developing the ARM technology to this day. Today, most mobile phones and [=MP3=] players, a fair number of netbooks, and the [=iPad=] use ARM-based technology, and Creator/{{Apple}} began to transition its [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Macs]] to ARM-based processors in 2020. Bought by the Japanese conglomerate [=SoftBank=] in 2016, but still operates largely independently, and has its global HQ in Cambridge.

* Budgens, featured in ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater''. Tends more towards small convenience stores rather than large supermarkets; pretty much a non-entity in the sector.

** It's sometimes referred to as a "catalogue retailer" because for most of its history goods were selected from large, heavy paper catalogues that are roughly the size and weight of two house bricks - these still exist, however they're not as common as they once were as more sales take place online. The catalogue itself has a somewhat positive association in many Brits' minds, largely from childhoods spent flicking through the toy section and wishing you owned it all. BillBailey referred to it (or at least the laminated versions Argos themselves have in their shops alongside stock checker terminals) as the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggOa9aSG-Ow "laminated book of dreams"]], so laminated as to "catch the tears of joy" from beholding the vast quantities of goods available..

Despite the disappearance of a native car industry, car manufacturing remain a robust industry in Britain - in fact, more cars are produced in Britain than Italy (which has one major mass-market automaker and several high-end automakers), and more ''per capita'' than the USA. Many car companies (including Toyota, Honda and Ford) have plants in the country, and the car enthusiast culture remains very strong in the country. Also, bizarrely, there is now the strange entity that is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: the company formed from the merger of the Italian car company Fiat and the American car company Chrysler is registered in the Netherlands and has its small executive headquarters--a group of around 30 people working directly under the CEO--in St. James's Street in London.

* Reaction Engines Limited. A tiny company founded by a collection of boffins[[note]]Note to Americans: "[[UsefulNotes/BritishEnglish boffin]]"="nerd," "geek," "egghead".[[/note]] in 1989, it deserves to be noted for the breathtaking ambition of its its current projects, the Skylon and the A2. Essentially, a traditional "garden-sheds and dreams" company is trying to go where giants of the space and aviation world have failed by creating a single stage to orbit spaceplane to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life, and new civilizations - no wait, instead they want to create a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon_(spacecraft) single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft]] (essentially what the next Space Shuttle ''should'' look like) that could carry 15 tonnes or ''30'' people[[note]]No spacecraft has ever carried more than ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-61-A eight]]'', and no more than about 10-12 people have every been in space at once[[/note]] to space in one go at 4% of the cost per kilogram of conventional rockets, and a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_Engines_A2 green hypersonic airliner]] that could travel from Brussels to Sydney in just over 4 and a half hours (the trip today takes a full day). As of 2013, the various tests have gone off [[http://www.gizmag.com/sabre-engine-skylon/25218/ swimmingly]]. Watch this space.

* Fortnum & Mason. Has its own signitaure colour, a distinctive green called Eau de Nil. Founded in 1707. Well-known for its food and drink, particularly their hampers which are still sold in traditional wicker baskets. Now has a few branches around the world.

* John Lewis claims to be "Never Knowingly Undersold"[[note]]What this means in practise is that if you find the exact same product on sale somewhere else for less money then they will match that price, with certain exceptions such as not matching against online retailers[[/note]] and yet is quite expensive (not Harrods-expensive though) to the extent that a "John Lewis list" of how much in second home expenses [=MPs=] were allowed to claim for various items was considered an example of excess. Also notable for being owned by its staff,[[note]]Or more precisely, owned by a trust whose beneficiaries are the firm's employees[[/note]] who are thus all known as "Partners". Since 2008, it has had a Royal Warrant as "suppliers of haberdashery and household goods." They are well known for [[Advertising/JohnLewis their annual Christmas ads]], each with a downtempo cover of a pop song. Its supermarket chain is Waitrose.

* Beecham Group, one of Britain's largest pharmaceutical companies. They produce the infamously disgusting yet all-encompassingly effective Beechams All-in-One medicine, a combination of paracetamol, phenylephrine and guaifenesin. As mentioned previously, they also own Ribena, as well as sugarrific Lucozade energy drink and Aquafresh toothpaste.

* Tesco (not, in fact, "Tesco's")- controlling about 30% of the grocery market, it's the biggest British retailer. Not too long ago, it was the third-largest retailer of any type in the world (only UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} and Carrefour beat it), but it's now out of the top 10.[[note]]Top 10 as of July 2020: Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Schwarz Gruppe (i.e. Lidl), Kroger, Walgreens Boots Alliance (yes, ''that'' Boots; see below), The Home Depot, Aldi, Carrefour, [=JD.com=][[/note]] It's a somewhat controversial firm, being accused of labour exploitation, planning violations, being too big, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking grammar errors]]. Tried to expand into the US with fresh&easy, which promptly died on its arse. Has expanded into an incredible array of different markets, from financial products to mobile phones - it is quite possible, if somewhat inadvisable, to live while using only its products and services.

* Harrods. The largest single department store in the UK, around since 1834. It used to have royal warrants, which it has now pretty much lost. This is due to longtime (1985-2010) owner Mohamed al-Fayed, who earned the everlasting disgust of the Royal Family after the death of [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Princess Diana]] (as his son Dodi was dating her then and died in the same crash; he somewhat hysterically claims the Royal Family is covering ''something'' up about the incident, despite neutral inquiries finding nothing of the kind). Fayed sold the firm in 2010 to the royal family of Qatar. Known for being upmarket; its rough American equivalent would be Bloomingdale's or Nordstrom.

* Fortnum & Mason. Is distinctive for having its own signitaure colour, a distinctive green called Eau de Nil. Founded in 1707. Well-known for its food and drink, particularly their hampers which are still sold in traditional wicker baskets. Now has a few branches around the world.

* Asda - now owned by UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}}, suffice to say the name of the MMO "Asda Story" amuses Britons who see their ads. Has an ArtifactTitle - it was originally an abbreviation for Associated Dairies. For Americans and Canadians, the "George" clothing brand you see in Walmarts is an Asda brand that migrated across The Pond. In late 2020, the majority stake was sold by Walmart to the Issa brothers, bringing it back into British ownership.

** Royal Bank of Scotland - not, as mentioned above, to be confused with plain old Bank of Scotland, to which it is wholly unrelated. Its branches in England (and [=NatWest's=] Scottish branches) are supposed to have been demerged from it in the same way TSB was from Lloyds TSB, but it's floundered repeatedly and now may not actually happen at all.

* Abellio, owned wholly by the Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Runs some local buses and a number of rail franchises. Much like Arriva, no longer uses its own name on its trains, the only former exception being Abellio Greater Anglia, which [[SarcasmMode obviously serves Wales]] and is now just called "Greater Anglia" (potentially to avoid brand damage due to their inheriting a basket case of a franchise). Runs rail services in Scotland under the ScotRail brand, and used to run them in the north of England as Northern.

* Unilever - Another Anglo-Dutch affair (with [=HQs=] in the City of London and Rotterdam). Established in 1930 by the merger of the Dutch Maragarine Unie ("United Margarine"; you don't get three guesses as to what they made) and the British soap manufacturer Lever Brothers for the more efficient importation of palm oil (a key ingredient in both soap and margarine).[[note]]Not only did the larger company allow for larger bulk purchases and therefore lower rates on shipping the stuff from tropical colonies to Britain and the Netherlands, it also allowed the Dutch operations to take advantage of oil from British-controlled Malaysia (then called Malaya) and West Africa, and the British operations to take advantage of oil from Dutch-controlled Indonesia (then the Dutch East Indies).[[/note]] From there, it sort of got crazy, and the company now makes everything from Dove soap to Lipton Tea to ice cream (of which it is the world's largest manufacturer; including its "Heartbrand" ice creams--e.g. Wall's in Britain and Good Humor in North America--as well as other brands like Breyer's and yes, you hippies, Ben & Jerry's, too). Most importantly for some people in Britain, they make Marmite.

* Horlicks, a hot malted-milk drink associated with comfort and wintertime warmth in 20th century Britain. Still made by GSK.

* Asda - now owned by UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}}, suffice to say the name of the MMO "Asda Story" amuses Britons who see their ads. Has an ArtifactTitle - it was originally an abbreviation for Associated Dairies. For Americans and Canadians, the "George" clothing brand you see in Walmarts is an Asda brand that migrated across The Pond.

* Tesco (not, in fact, "Tesco's")- controlling about 30% of the grocery market, it's the biggest British retailer. Not too long ago, it was the third-largest retailer of any type in the world (only UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} and Carrefour beat it), but it's now down to ninth.[[note]]Top 10 as of July 2019: Walmart, Amazon, Walgreens Boots Alliance (yes, ''that'' Boots; see below), Costco, Kroger, Schwarz Gruppe (i.e. Lidl), The Home Depot, Carrefour, Tesco, Aldi[[/note]] It's a somewhat controversial firm, being accused of labour exploitation, planning violations, being too big, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking grammar errors]]. Tried to expand into the US with fresh&easy, which promptly died on its arse. Has expanded into an incredible array of different markets, from financial products to mobile phones - it is quite possible, if somewhat inadvisable, to live while using only its products and services.

* Boots (sometimes suffixed "the Chemist", especially by older people - it was known as this and is now simply "Boots", but definitely NOT "Boot's"), a huge chain of chemists (read: pharmacies) that as well as dispensing medicines does most of its trade selling beauty and health products, along with a range of somewhat decent lunch foods and other such things (for reasons nobody quite understands). Extremely abundant - a reasonably sized city will likely have multiple within walking distance of each other and most towns will have one (e.g. Norwich has three in its city centre alone within five minutes' walk of each other, Portsmouth has five, Manchester at least ten) - although many of these stores are quite old and therefore fairly grotty and tatty. Now owned by Walgreens, with the combined company now the world's third-largest retailer, it's the retail segment of a large and well-respected pharmaceutical business that invented ibuprofen, amongst many other household names. Their No 7 own brand make-up range is internationally known and is even sold on QVC in the US, as well as US Walgreens locations.