Design in Yorkshire & Humberside
The headline
Design plays a role in almost nine out of every ten businesses here. Yorkshire & Humberside leads the UK on this score.
And it uses designers more. Two thirds of its businesses employ them, whether internally or externally, compared to less than half across the UK.
This suggests the region’s businesses are already benefiting more than well from using design as a competitive tool.
The details
What role does design play in business?
Design plays a role in the vast majority (86%) of businesses in Yorkshire & Humberside. This compares well to the rest of the UK.
UK average 75%
While the region’s businesses are slightly less likely than others to see design as integral, one third (33%) see design as significant.
Just one in seven businesses sees no role for design, compared to one in four across the UK.
‘If we had not begun introducing design into our strategic processes, we would have been in a really difficult position now.’
How important is design to success, compared to other factors?
One in eight (13%) Yorkshire & Humberside businesses think design is crucial to their success. That almost matches the UK average.
UK average 15%
Of course, traditional factors are also essential to success.
For example, 84% of the region’s businesses rate financial management as crucial, and 76% point to the quality of their staff.
How do businesses use design to compete?
Almost half (46%) the businesses in Yorkshire & Humberside believe that, over the past decade, design has become more important in helping them compete.
UK average 46%
The region’s attitude to investing in design also broadly follows the UK picture.
Like businesses in many other regions, businesses in Yorkshire & Humberside mostly compete on the price or cost of their offer (74%). One in five (19%) see innovation as a basis for competing.
How many businesses have developed new products or services?
Over a third (38%) of the businesses in Yorkshire & Humberside have developed new products or services in the past three years.
UK average 40%
While this mirrors the UK average, it does put the region ahead of some. In the North East and Northern Ireland for example, just a quarter of businesses developed new products or services between 2002 and 2005.
What types of design do businesses use?
Compared to the UK, Yorkshire & Humberside businesses are strong on digital and multimedia design (36% use it), and weak on interior and exhibition design (5% use it).
UK averages 31% and 13%
In keeping with other parts of the UK, communications design is the most widely used service.
Just over a third of the region’s businesses don’t use any of the services we surveyed.
Do businesses use designers?
Yorkshire & Humberside businesses are more likely to employ designers than many businesses elsewhere. Employing designers internally is particularly popular. This is a solution for 39% of businesses.
UK average 34%
Only one third of businesses don’t hire designers in any way. Across the UK that figure’s closer to half.
Where do businesses apply design?
Yorkshire & Humberside businesses broadly follow the national picture, applying design to externally facing functions (58%). Marketing (55%) is especially common.
UK averages 50% and 48%
Only in applying design to internally facing functions, such as workplace design and internal communications, are they significantly down on the average.
Regional portrait
The region has one of the UK’s smallest economies. It contributes just 7.5% of the UK’s total gross value added (GVA). London and the South East, by contrast, each contribute more than twice this.
Compared to other parts of the UK, the region is traditionally strong in the production and distribution of goods, plus construction and public sector services. In contrast, there’s less service sector activity, especially financial and business services, than in the UK overall. However, this picture is changing. Traditional production and distribution output is decreasing while the service sector is increasing.
The region has more than 270,000 businesses, contributing to an economy worth £75.2billion.
The regional development agency Yorkshire Forward is currently producing a Regional Economic Strategy, plus ‘Yorkshire 2020’, a look at how the region’s future could develop.
For more information on Yorkshire & Humberside, please visit these websites:
What approach can I take with this information?
If you’re a business intermediary
The extent and involvement of businesses here in design is widespread and encouraging. While businesses don’t necessarily need convincing to do more, they could benefit from perceiving design slightly differently.
With just one in eight believing that design is crucial to success, you could use other parts of our survey to improve opinions.
What design can do for your figures and The link between design and better business performance could be particularly helpful.
If you’re a design business
Yorkshire & Humberside is an excellent region for you to operate in.
One in four businesses here commissions external designers, compared to one in five throughout the UK. And businesses use a wide range of design services.
In terms of opportunities for growth, it might be worth you promoting the services that are comparatively under-used, such as interior and exhibition design. The region’s businesses are also less likely to apply design to internally facing functions, such as workplace design and internal communications.
Other parts of our survey could help you sell these and other services to your clients. What design can do for your figures and The link between design and better business performance could be particularly helpful.
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 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
Businesses are more widely involved in design here than in many other parts of the UK, but design is valued less. Understanding why could be a useful area for researchers to study.
If you’re a student interested in a career in design, this should be a good region for you to find opportunities. Only a third of businesses don’t commission any design.