This case study is featured in SEE Policy Booklet 3: Evaluating Design (November 2010).

 

 

 

In 2009, the Design Council conducted a national survey of the performance of the UK design industry, conducting telephone interviews with 2,236 individuals in nine weeks. Design businesses (including in-house design teams, design consultancies and freelance designers) were asked about the profile and size of their businesses, their clients and the competition they faced, their business practices and the education, training and skills of their employees. Conducting a five-yearly assessment of the shape of the UK design industry provides evidence that ‘the design industry presents a confident face to business and government as the engines of innovation, enterprise and economic growth’.    

 

Key Findings:

• There are an estimated 232,000 designers in the UK, 29% more than in 2005

• The sector’s turnover is estimated at £15 billion, up 15% from 2005

• 78% of design consultancies have an annual fee income of less than £500,000

• 87% of design consultancies employ fewer than ten members of staff

 

The main objectives of the research were to provide updated statistics on the size and shape of the UK design industry, and to examine the impact of the recession on the design industry and how the industry had changed since 2005.

 

The telephone survey was conducted between September and November 2009 by two members of the Design Council research team who worked on the original 2005 survey. The main challenge for the project was the sheer diversity of the businesses surveyed. The survey covers in-house design teams, freelancers and design consultancies working in communications, digital, product, interior and exhibition, fashion and service design across the UK. This made the sample design quite complex.  Response rates for the survey were lower than in 2005, in line with a broader trend, so that they had to extend the duration of the survey and ask local contacts within specific regions to provide additional design contacts in order to reach the target number of businesses.

 

 

 

The results of the survey are used by the Design Council to understand the current state of the UK design community and identify ways in which it can be supported or developed. For example, the survey findings highlighted the need to strengthen skills and training in design businesses. The government sponsor, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, uses the findings to understand the economic contribution that the design industry makes within the UK. From this research, it emerged that the design sector has responded well to the current economic climate and that demand for design services is still reported to be strong. ‘Even with the negative impact of recession, assuming even annual growth, the design sector has seen growth averaging 3.5% a year, over the five year cycle.’  This demonstrates that design really is an opportunity in the post-recession phase for driving economic recovery.

 

For more information visit: www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/insight/research/design-industry-research-2010/

 

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