Malcolm
You are bang on with your statement about British suppliers not appearing on google or other search engines.What is wrong with these people? If you are going to the bother of making and selling useful (and in the case of B.A. fixings, ever more hard to find items) why dont you advertise CLEARLY.You might as well nail a poster to a tree outside your shop for all the good some of your web listings do.
Word of mouth is a good way of getting business,but unfortunately people dont talk very much now,nor do they walk much either so that makes your shop sign pointless as well.The internet is the first place people look for information now and after they get little or no response from it the other options are slim.
Rant over
best regards Steve C.