This section looks at who clients are and where they're found as well as giving information on design buyers in the UK
This information about clients comes from our 2005 survey The Business of Design.
41% of design consultancies and 48% of freelances find their clients either locally or in their region
The clients of design businesses are geographically distributed in a similar way to their competition.
Where design businesses find their clients they also find their competition.
Chart 26
Location of main clients by business type (%)
| Business type |
Local |
Regional |
Within the UK |
Within the EU |
Other parts of the world |
| Freelances |
32 |
16 |
39 |
2 |
12 |
| Design consultancies |
15 |
25 |
43 |
5 |
12 |
16% of SME consultancies have overseas clients compared to 34% of large consultancies
As might be expected, large design consultancies employing 250 people or more have a larger proportion of international clients and competitors than the small and medium size consultancies with fewer than 250 employees.
In total, 17% of consultancies and 14% of freelances have overseas clients.
Chart 27a
Location of competitors of SMEs and larger consultancies(%)
| Competitors of: |
UK (including local & regional) |
EU & global |
| Large consultancies |
54 |
46 |
| SME consultancies |
89 |
11 |
Chart 27b
Location of clients of SMEs and larger consultancies (%)
| Clients of: |
UK (including local & regional) |
EU & global |
| Large consultancies |
66 |
34 |
| SME consultancies |
84 |
16 |
The UK design industry services clients in every major industrial sector
Chart 28
Design businesses’ main clients by sector
| Sector |
% |
| Retail, wholesale, transport & leisure |
 40 |
| Business & financial services |
37 |
| Manufacturing |
23 |
| Public administration, health & education |
22 |
| Public utilities & construction |
7 |
52% of design businesses believe their clients value design highly
Just over half (52%) of all design businesses believe design is highly valued by their clients and almost a further third (31%) think it is moderately valued. Substantially less (14%) think it is undervalued to some degree.Only 39% of businesses in Scotland feel design is highly valued; 28% think it is moderately or highly undervalued.
Find out more about design buyers in the UK