Design in Northern Ireland

The headline

More than their counterparts in many parts of the UK, businesses in Northern Ireland know that design can help them succeed.

But this conviction is not quite mirrored in practice. Take-up of most design services is currently quite low, compared to the rest of the UK. However, investment is increasing, suggesting an ever improving outlook.

The details

What role does design play in business?

Like businesses in other areas, those in Northern Ireland see design playing a limited role. Only 29% think it’s either integral or significant to their business.
UK average 37%

Only one in eight (13%) say it’s integral. While close to the UK average, this puts Northern Ireland significantly behind other regions, such as the East Midlands (26%).

How important is design to success, compared to other factors?

A quarter of Northern Irish businesses think design is crucial to their success (26%). That’s encouragingly high, compared to the average.
UK average 15%

Of course, traditional factors remain more important to success.

For example, 79% of Northern Irish businesses rate operational management as crucial. And 73% point to financial management.

How do businesses use design to compete?

Nearly half (45%) of Northern Ireland’s businesses believe that, over the past decade, design has become more important in helping them compete.
UK average 46%

While this mirrors the picture across the UK, Northern Irish businesses are among the most likely to have increased investment in design. Over the past three years, 43% have invested more than before. And none have decreased their investment.

Most Northern Irish businesses compete on cost and price (70%). Fewer than average think the added value of their products and services is a basis for competition (60% compared to 77% average).

How many businesses have developed new products or services?

Businesses in Northern Ireland develop fewer products and services than those elsewhere. Only a quarter (25%) have developed something new in the past three years.
UK average 40%

What types of design do businesses use?

Communications design is most widely used, by 41% of Northern Irish businesses. However, the overall picture is weak. Most design services are used less than in the UK as a whole.
UK average 52%

Services such as digital and multimedia design are particularly under-utilised. Just one in five businesses use it, compared to one in three elsewhere.

Only interior and exhibition design bucks this trend.

42% of Northern Irish businesses don’t use any of the design services we surveyed.

Do businesses use designers?

Half of Northern Irish businesses don’t use designers, either internally or externally commissioned (52%).
UK average 45%

Overall, Northern Irish businesses don’t employ as many designers as businesses elsewhere.

Where do businesses apply design?

As in other parts of the UK, businesses in Northern Ireland apply design to externally facing functions, such as branding and corporate communications, more than anything else. Half (48%) of businesses do so.
UK average 50%

In general, Northern Irish businesses apply design less than others do. In fact, over a third don’t apply design to any area of their business at all.

Northern Irish portrait

Northern Ireland’s contribution to national gross value added (GVA) in 2004 was £23.1billion. This represents only 2.3% of the UK total. The GVA per head is, however, on a par with that of other parts of the UK, such as the North East of England and Wales.

But the economy in Northern Ireland has been growing. In the year to 2004 the annual gross value added (GVA) growth rate was 5.0%, which was above the UK average figure of 4.6%. Northern Ireland’s unemployment rate (4.1%) is lower than the UK rate of 5.1%, and is among the lowest of all UK regions.

In terms of industrial sectors, the Northern Irish economy is broadly similar to the UK with manufacturing and construction representing 18.0% in Northern Ireland and 16.1% in the UK. The public sector in Northern Ireland makes up a larger proportion of the economy than in the UK overall (31.5% and 20.2% respectively).

Northern Ireland’s flourishing service sector contributes just over 70% of GVA.

In 2005, the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (the body responsible for encouraging regional growth) set out its Corporate Plan for the period 2005 - 2008, in which it outlined how it will contribute to the achievement of Northern Ireland’s economic vision. This plan is available on the DETI website.

Invest Northern Ireland is the main economic development agency and works with those individuals, companies and organisations in the manufacturing and tradable service sectors that show the ambition and commitment to grow by being more entrepreneurial, more innovative and more internationally focused.

For more information on Northern Ireland, please visit these websites:

• The Northern Ireland Executive
• Invest Northern Ireland
• Office for National Statistics
• Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
• Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.

How can I use this information?

If you're a business intermediary

While only 13% of Northern Irish businesses rate design as integral to their operations (slightly below average), twice as many think it’s crucial to their success (above average).

However, of the six design services we surveyed, five are used less here than they are elsewhere.

But Northern Irish businesses have taken a bigger step than those in many regions towards understanding the value of design to business success. And the comparatively high levels of investment suggest an improving outlook, which design’s proven benefits can help to consolidate. See The link between design and better business performance and What design can do for your figures for more on this.

If you’re a design business

Northern Irish businesses are more likely to hire designers to work for them internally than they are to have a dedicated design department or to commission external designers. But the increased levels of design investment by businesses seem to signal a clear opportunity.

Several clear opportunities emerge from this survey. For example, just over a third of Northern Irish businesses apply design to their marketing activity. That’s fewer than average.

And only one in five is using digital and multimedia design services – again, that’s below average.

Making your clients aware of this could benefit both you and them, as well as the wider Northern Irish economy.

And as well as the results of this survey (which look at what your clients are doing), we’ve also looked at what your peers are doing. The business of design is the first comprehensive survey of the design industry.

Among other things, it compares the supply of design services in your area to that in others. This complements the demand for services discussed above, and should further help you discuss these issues with your clients.

If you’re a design educator or student

Northern Ireland’s economy is slow, but growing. And with design seen as crucial to success by a quarter of businesses, the area could be a rewarding one in which to track design’s contribution to growth.