Six great British firms to buy now

The economic outlook may be uninspiring, but Britain harbours some great homegrown businesses, says Phil Oakley. Here, he tips six great British stocks to add to your portfolio.

Things look pretty gloomy for the British economy right now. The news that we're back in technical recession following two quarters of shrinking GDP won't have shocked many people. The fact is the economy has barely grown at all in the past two years. We're still suffering the fall-out from the financial crisis and with banks still weak and consumers and the government still heavily in debt, the malaise could go on for some time.

But while the economic outlook might be uninspiring, it doesn't follow that you should avoid investing in British companies. Britain is host to some outstanding firms that have proved capable of thriving in good times and bad. So how do you spot them? And which should you add to your portfolio?

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Aggreko2,167p£5.8bn27%28%20.61.1%
British American Tobacco3,114p£60.8bn25%22%14.74.4%
GlaxoSmithKline1,422p£71.5bn35%31%11.65.2%
Rotork2,027p£1.8bn51%68%18.52.2%
Spirax-Sarco2,043p£1.7bn27%25%15.52.6%
Domino Printing Sciences560p£635m33%28%15.33.4%

Phil spent 13 years as an investment analyst for both stockbroking and fund management companies.

 

After graduating with a MSc in International Banking, Economics & Finance from Liverpool Business School in 1996, Phil went to work for BWD Rensburg, a Liverpool based investment manager. In 2001, he joined ABN AMRO as a transport analyst. After a brief spell as a food retail analyst, he spent five years with ABN's very successful UK Smaller Companies team where he covered engineering, transport and support services stocks.

 

In 2007, Phil joined Halbis Capital Management as a European equities analyst. He began writing for MoneyWeek in 2010.