It was not long into my business career in the 1970’s when there was the Midland Banks disastrous foray into the US financial market place. Since then many ‘household’ names such as Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s have all ‘set their sights’ on the US as their next really major expansion plan, only to eventually exit the market at a significant financial cost. Personally I have witnessed a major European welding manufacturer try and enter the US market place only to exit 18 months later ‘licking its wounds’ having encountered any amount of state protectionism.
