Design in Scotland
The headline
Scottish businesses are less convinced than those in the rest of the UK that design contributes to success.
But they use the same types of design to the same extent as those elsewhere. Also, only just over one in ten businesses say they do not apply design to any of their activities – far fewer than the UK average.
The details
What role does design play in business?
Scottish businesses mostly consider that design plays a limited role in their operations. Over half (55%) see it this way.
UK average 39%
Only a quarter (27%) say design is either integral or significant to them.
This puts Scotland below average (37%), and well behind leading regions, such as the East Midlands, where 47% say design is integral or significant.
How important is design to success, compared to other factors?
Just 5% of Scottish businesses think design is crucial to their success.
UK average 15%
Traditional factors are much more important to success.
For example, 80% of Scottish businesses rate operational management as crucial, and 67% point to the quality of staff.
How do businesses use design to compete?
Just under a quarter (22%) of Scottish businesses believe that, over the past decade, design has become more important in helping them compete.
UK average 46%
That’s the lowest proportion in the whole of the UK. Some regions, such as the East Midlands and South West, are three times as positive.
This mirrors Scotland’s comparatively low investment in design. Nearly two thirds of businesses (62%) haven’t invested in design at all. The UK average is 43%. Just 16% have increased their investment over the past three years.
There’s some consolation in the fact that, of those who do spend money on design, none have cut their investment.
Scottish businesses mostly compete on the added value of their product or service (92%). A surprisingly low percentage (43%) compete on cost or price. Just one in six (16%) compete on innovation.
How many businesses have developed new products or services?
Over a third (36%) of Scottish businesses have developed new products or services in the past three years.
UK average 40%
This puts Scotland in line with the UK average, and some way ahead of several other regions.
In the East Midlands, over half of businesses have developed new products or services. In Northern Ireland and the North East, this drops to a quarter.
What types of design do businesses use?
Generally, most design services are used less in Scotland than elsewhere. Product and industrial design for example, is half as popular (8%) as it is elsewhere in the UK.
UK average 17%
Other services with comparatively low take-up include digital and multimedia design, and interior and exhibition design.
Communications design is the most popular service in Scotland. Over half of all businesses use it.
A third of Scottish businesses (36%) don’t use any of the design services surveyed. However, this is close to the UK average.
Do businesses use designers?
One in ten (10%) Scottish businesses hire external design consultants. The national average is one in five.
UK average 19%
By comparison, businesses in Scotland tend to have an internal design department or employ their own designers.
Where do businesses apply design?
Scottish businesses apply design broadly. Just 13% don’t apply it to any area of their business, which is considerably better than the UK average.
UK average 24%
In particular, Scottish businesses are, as elsewhere, most likely to use design in externally facing functions such as communications and marketing. They are more likely than businesses elsewhere to apply design to internally facing functions and research and development.
Scottish portrait
The Scottish economy contributed £82billion to the UK’s gross value added (GVA) in 2004. That’s 8.2% of the total. While that’s a lower share than London or the South East, the Scottish economy is growing. Between 2003 and 2004, its GDP grew by 1.6%.
According to the Scottish Executive, the service sector is the major player in the Scottish economy, accounting for 68.8% of GDP. Production accounts for 23.5%. Construction and agriculture (5.8%), and forestry and fishing (1.8%) contribute the least.
These figures reflect the changing nature of the Scottish economy. As the service sector has grown in importance and production, so construction, agriculture, forestry and fishing have decreased. Since 2001 the service sector has been the main driver of growth, most noticeably growing by 5.5% in a 12-month period during 2001–02. Recently, Scotland was named ‘UK Region of the Future’ by the Financial Times fDi (Foreign Direct Investment) magazine, beating seven other parts of the UK.
Scottish Enterprise is Scotland’s main economic development agency, funded by the Scottish Executive. Its mission is to help the people and businesses of Scotland succeed, and, in doing so, to build a world-class economy.
For more information on Scotland, please visit these websites:
How can I use this information?
If you’re a business intermediary
While Scottish businesses don’t necessarily need persuading to use design, they might benefit from being more convinced that doing so makes a difference commercially.
Only one in 20 thinks design is crucial to their success. The rest of the UK is three times more positive in this respect.
Our research can help you make this case to them. In particular, What design can do for your figures and The link between design and better business performance provide strong evidence of design boosting the bottom line.
If you’re a design business
Just under half of Scottish businesses employ designers, either externally commissioned or internally.
Only one in ten businesses commission external designers to do work for them. In contrast, one third employ designers internally.
There’s a bias towards one design service: communications design. While 53% of Scottish businesses use it, the other five services we surveyed were only used by 38% in total.
There could therefore be significant opportunities for agencies to widen their portfolio of services, and encourage businesses to use more of services such as digital and multimedia design, and interior and exhibition design.
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, the research compares the supply of design services in your area to that in other regions. 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
Researchers might be interested in the conclusion of this report: that Scotland’s businesses exhibit one of the biggest disparities in the UK between what they think about design (less positive than most) and what they do (more positive than most).
For students interested in a career in design, Scotland is justifiably a major draw. There is potential for more businesses to employ designers and use design in their operations.