Apple voted UK's leading business brand

Voted the UK's top business brand, Apple also came second in the consumer brand vote, losing out to Rolex but staying one step ahead of Microsoft.

Voted the UK's top business brand, Apple also came second in the consumer brand vote, losing out to Rolex but staying one step ahead of Microsoft.

The annual league tables, published this week and based on the opinions of marketing experts, business professionals and thousands of UK consumers ranks Apple as the leading business superbrand of 2013, followed by British Airways in second and Google in third place. IBM made it to sixth place, Microsoft came in eighth and Samsung found itself in 14th position.

On the consumer side, Apple was nudged into second place by Rolex, but Microsoft found itself in third place, lending more credence to the belief that people's perceptions of the company have changed markedly over the last 12 months and that it is once again seen as cool. Other tech brands to feature prominently in the consumers' top 20 include Google in sixth place and Facebook in 14th place but Samsung was suspicious by its absence. Mercedes was the only carmaker to find itself in the top 10 in 10th position, while the top five was rounded out by British Airways and Coca-Cola.

Superbrands claims that the annual tables are also a good indicator of consumer and business confidence and therefore the state of the economy. "As consumers remain unsettled and fearful over what feels like endless economic doom and gloom," said Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands Expert Council, "it is perhaps no surprise that we are turning to reassuringly familiar brands that we have known throughout our lives."