The UK's 75 most valuable brands grew faster than global rivals for the first time in nearly a decade. Revolut rose most, banks dominate and HSBC stays top.
The UK’s 75 most valuable brands are now worth a record $321.2bn, about £243bn, and for the first time in nearly a decade they are growing faster than their global counterparts, according to the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable UK Brands 2026 ranking published this week. HSBC remains the most valuable British brand, and 49 of the 75 increased in value, as Decision Marketing reported.
Revolut posted the largest gain of any brand in the ranking. Among household names, KitKat rose 21 per cent, which Kantar links to its Formula 1 partnership, Sainsbury’s 19 per cent, Next 17 per cent and British Airways 16 per cent. Tesco, up 15 per cent, is the most valuable grocer, and Costa Coffee, up 14 per cent, is the only quick-service food and drink brand in the list.
At the other end, M&S grew a comparatively modest 7 per cent and Very just 1 per cent.
The ranking is increasingly a story about finance. All ten of the fastest-growing brands are financial services brands, and the banks now account for more than a third of the ranking’s total value, with Barclays and Lloyds among the biggest. Telecoms has shrunk to 17 per cent of total value from 25 per cent five years ago, and retail to 9 per cent from 14 per cent.
Jodie Gillary, head of brand intelligence at Kantar, warned that the rise could be “more of a short-term bounce than a long-term boom”, and that relevance now matters for AI search too: “If a business’ relevance isn’t clear, then LLMs won’t mention it and a sale won’t happen.”
Brand value rankings are partly a measure of share prices, so a good year for the FTSE flatters everyone. But the brands that rose fastest share a pattern this site has covered all autumn: Next spent more on marketing and published the return, Sainsbury’s has kept its brand consistent, and Tesco has built one of the largest retail media businesses in Europe. M&S’s modest growth comes despite a strong year of advertising, which shows how much a brand’s value still depends on the business underneath, though its Sephora deal is a bet on changing that.
He plans, buys and reviews advertising for a living, and helps score campaigns on the site against the same five Crown Score criteria alongside other authors and contributors.
Opening the Festival of Marketing, Hegarty set out a simple triangle for judging creative work, blamed KPIs for a sea of sameness, and admitted he once had no idea if a famous Audi ad would work.
The IPA Bellwether Report finds a net 14.3 per cent of marketers raised budgets in Q3 2026, with main media at a nine-year high, though the 2027 adspend forecast was cut.
After Snoop Dogg, Katy Perry and Craig David, Just Eat's new global platform by VCCP is built on ordinary moments, led by a grandfather meeting his grandchild.