To mark the start of International Trade Week 2022, and ahead of the Walpole British Luxury Awards, Vogue Business has partnered with the Department for International Trade (DIT) to create a new master class series that brings exclusive insights on doing business internationally – and all the luxury brands featured are Walpole Members.
Now live on the Vogue Business the series – entitled British Luxury Brands: Strategies for Global Success – explores each brand's experience in British manufacturing, how they effectively export overseas and what they do to cultivate relevance with international consumers. In the series, presenters Anusha Couttigane (Head of Advisory, Vogue Business) and Charlotte Keesing (Director, Walpole) look at the different strategies these brands have for global success and the strengths required to evolve from a home-grown brand to one with global reach.
The Walpole member brands featured in the series – Bremont, Jaguar Land Rover, Harris Tweed Hebrides, Richard Brendon and Mulberry – are all exemplary in their commitment to UK making and expanding internationally.
"Since I launched my brand, we have sold globally through our own website. The majority of the sales are international (approximately 53%), of which the USA considerably consumes the majority," says ceramicist and glassware designer Richard Brendon, who features in the fourth video of the series (below). "Although the UK market is a good market for luxury goods, it pales into insignificance when you look at the global luxury market. The USA is our second largest market, after the UK, and it will overtake the UK in the next couple of years."
"Expanding globally not only allows luxury brands to grow, but also mitigates sales against risk to some degree, as some economies will be performing better than others. The opportunity to export for luxury brands is enormous; the challenge is deciding which market to pick and making sure you have the necessary resources and the right products to penetrate the market successfully."
See all the videos in the series below and read more about the partnership on Vogue Business.
"We are delighted to be partnering with the DIT and Vogue Business as part of International Trade Week, and ahead of the Walpole British Luxury Awards, to showcase brands who are taking advantage of the huge wealth of international trade opportunities to expand and grow their businesses globally," says Charlotte Keesing, Director, of the collaboration. "The demand for British luxury brands particularly in the US and markets across Asia Pacific and the GCC has never been stronger and with 80% of what we manufacture here in the UK already destined for international markets there is huge potential for further growth and expansion.
Of the partnership with DIT, Keesing said: "We have worked with the DIT for more than a decade and their teams here in the UK and in key international markets, provide an invaluable source of knowledge, contacts, advice and access to funding to help businesses take advantage of the wealth of international trade opportunities."
"We’re thrilled to be partnering with Walpole on this joint initiative during International Trade Week as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting British luxury brands," said Jamila Saidi, Head of Digital Commerce, Retail & Luxury at the Department for International Trade.
"We’re particularly excited to be shining a light on some incredible businesses that have gone global, taking advantage of trade opportunities around the world. These businesses have shown that the demand for ‘made in the UK’ British luxury goods and services is very much an international one and we’re keen to see even more companies in this space start their exporting journey as a means of achieving their growth ambitions."
