I've been in England for two and a half weeks now and I must say, the British Brands do not disappoint. One of the troubles of overseas Branding is that I have to almost definitely expect an entirely different form of creation. Much of that is because a different audience is being spoken to and the demographic changes for each industry. The branding here does seem to explore many of the same principles and obviously the things taught to me in school are being followed much the same (spacing, size, colours, styles, etc...).
One thing I noticed is the long standing brands that have been in place for a while are set to go forward with what works. Why change what isn't broken? Some of the major brands like Primark, Marks & Spencer and Tesco all seem to have a strangle hold on their own branding and don't plan on switching it up to amuse anyone. Some of my favourites have been Boots, Harrods and British Gas.
All that being said, there are some companies that may want to look towards the rebranding aspect of design. Companies like Fairy, Bodyform and OXO could probably afford to do a bit of a rebrand to ensure they stay relevant going forward. London definitely had a lot of Brands represented but even travelling up north I get to see some of the smaller companies assert their strength. Just today I saw a dog walkers companies called "Walkies" and the company vehicle looked pretty legitimate. Overall I have been pleasantly surprised but also very happy with the way some of the brands carry themselves over here aesthetically.
One minor point I have, but it is funny seeing Lays for all 34 years of my life and then seeing Walker's over here in London. Walker's came first, so I'm sorry to any Americans reading this that think they had that on lockdown before England. If you are not familiar, those two companies are owned by PepsiCo and have very very similar Logos.