Design in the East of England

The headline

The East of England values design almost as much as the rest of the UK does.

While the region is slightly less positive about many of the issues we surveyed, there are signs of a change in attitudes

Significantly, more is being invested in design here than in many other parts of the UK.

And other steps that could be taken, such as increasing the role of external design agencies in business, are clear to see.

The details

What role does design play in business?

Design plays an integral role for one in seven (14%) businesses in the East of England. Attitudes here mirror the rest of the UK.
UK average 15%

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

In the East of England, 12% of businesses think design’s crucial to their success.
UK average 15%

This is slightly less positive than the average view.

Of course, traditional factors are also essential to success.

For example, 82% of the region’s businesses rate financial management as crucial. And 64% point to the quality of staff.

How do businesses use design to compete?

Over a third (37%) of East of England businesses believe that, over the past decade, design has become more important in helping them compete.
UK average 46%

While encouraging, this falls short of some other parts of the UK. Regions such as the East Midlands and South West are almost twice as positive.

However the East of England is good at investing in design. Over a third (36%) of the region’s businesses have increased their investment over the past three years.

The region’s businesses mostly compete on the cost or price of their product or service (73%). 67% compete on the added value of a product or service. Just 15% of businesses compete on innovation.

How many businesses have developed new products or services?

Over a third (39%) of the East of England’s businesses have developed new products or services in the past three years.
UK average 40%

What types of design do businesses use?

All types of design are used slightly less in the East of England than they are elsewhere. Communications design is the most popular design service, used by 45% of businesses.
UK average 52%

Over a third (38%) of the region’s businesses don’t use any of the design services we surveyed. This is fractionally more than the UK average.

Do businesses use designers?

Businesses in the East of England are reluctant to hire external design consultants. Just 8% do. Businesses elsewhere are more than twice as likely to do so.
UK average 19%

However, the region matches others in hiring designers internally, and in having dedicated design departments.

Where do businesses apply design?

East of England businesses most often apply design to their externally facing functions, such as branding and corporate communications (56%).
UK average 50%

Overall, businesses are less enthusiastic users of design in almost every area of business we surveyed, particularly business planning.

Regional portrait

The East of England has one of the UK’s largest economies. In 2004, the region’s gross value added (GVA) was £100.3billion. This was 10% of the UK’s total GVA.

Only London, the South East and North West contribute more to the UK economy.

It’s also one of the fastest growing economies in the UK, although the East of England Development Agency reported a slowdown in 2005. A recover is, however, already apparent.

The service sector in this region is performing strongly. Real estate, renting and business activities alone contributed over a quarter of economic output.

In contrast, high fuel and energy prices have adversely affected the region’s manufacturing and distribution services businesses. Some manufacturing is now outsourced abroad, and the sector is smaller than in some other regions. In 2002 it contributed over an eighth of economic output in 2002. Agriculture remains important to the region.

The East of England spends a higher proportion of economic output on research and development than other regions. Cambridge, with its strong science base, is a crucial factor in this.

Current major strategies for the region include A shared vision - the regional economic strategy for the East of England, which sets out eight economic targets.

For more information on the East of England, please visit these websites:

• East of England Development Agency
• Government Office for the East of England
• Office for National Statistics.

What approach can I take with this information?

If you’re a business intermediary

Businesses’ attitudes to design are in line with the rest of the UK, and their design investment is relatively strong.

But there are now opportunities to get ahead. For example, there are two things that businesses here don’t do as much as those elsewhere:

• External design agencies are used twice as much in other regions.
• Design is five times more likely to be applied to business planning elsewhere.

Increasing activity in both these areas might help the region get more value from its design investment.

If you’re a design business

For the East of England to match the rest of the UK, businesses need to use all services a little more.

For example, around one in four of this region’s businesses use digital and multimedia design. Across the UK, it’s closer to one in three.

One factor could be the comparatively low profile which external design agencies have here. Businesses are more likely to employ their own designers and have their own design departments.

As well as the results of this survey (which look at how your clients are using design in their business), 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 region 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

For those working in design education, it’s notable that businesses in the East of England apply comparatively little design to developing new products. Yet investment in design overall is relatively healthy. Monitoring these issues to see if they change could prove one useful area of study.

For students interested in a career in design, it’s worth noting that businesses in this region often prefer hiring their own designers to using external agencies.