International Competitiveness: British Food Industry Post‐1992

British food manufacturers are generally larger and more profitable than their EC competitors, while British supermarkets are so successful that they are widely considered to be in a completely different league to their international counterparts. In fact, across the business spectrum, the top firms in Europe are British. Uses the food industry to examine the paradox arising from the contrast between the superior profitability of many British firms and the consistent, long‐term loss of international markets by Britain to European and other international competitors. Concludes that the answer lies in the definition of success. For senior managers of British public companies success consists of keeping at bay the threat posed by the financial market. This leads them to neglect the lesser threat of loss of customer markets to international competitors – a far less immediate problem.