Young tech companies top list of UK brands

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Despite being a relatively young company, Google has beat out its older, more established rivals in the quest to be Britain's most highly regarded brand name.

According to brand analysis organisation Superbrands, which released its annual list of top business brands this week, the internet upstart is held in much higher regard than more established technology and old economy companies.

The annual list, which ranks the top 500 business brands in the UK, revealed the strength of tech companies in the view of the British public. After Google, the number two spot went to Microsoft, another relative newcomer compared to the rest of the list. The top five was rounded out by British oil company BP, the BBC, and pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline.

The average age of the top 50 companies on the list is 90 years old; that's nine times older than Google. This figure makes sense, however, considering Google and eBay (number 43) are the only two companies in the top 50 that started operations after 1990.

"Reputation is a company's greatest asset and brand building is likely to become even more crucial over the next few years than in the last decade of stability," said Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands Council.

A council of senior business leaders and an independent survey of 1,500 professionals compile the rankings by narrowing down an original list of thousands of companies. The brands are ranked based on quality, reliability and distinction.

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