International competition

In this section you can find research on the nature and intensity of national and international competition

You can also find information on how UK designers are responding to overseas competition, and help and advice for companies wanting to work overseas.

Key figures from the design industry give their views on where the UK design industry is heading in light of international competition at home and abroad.
Read the video transcript

Are UK designers competing against overseas designers for work?

When we surveyed the Design Industry in 2005, 17% of UK design businesses said their main competition comes from outside the UK. So in 2007 we asked 285 design businesses that are already competing against overseas designers to tell us more about their experiences.

We asked these designers about two sorts of international competition: the competition they face from overseas designers for work in the UK, and the competition they face from overseas designers for overseas clients and markets.

More than three quarters of these businesses (78%) have competed against international designers when trying to win UK projects. In overseas markets, 83% face competition from non-UK designers.

Is international competition increasing?

Two thirds of these designers (64%) have seen the intensity of competition for UK work increase over the past three years and around the same proportion (67%) expect it to increase further in the next three years.

Of those competing against international designers for work in overseas markets, 45% have seen an increase over the past three years and 62% predict further increases in the next three years.

Where’s the competition coming from?

In the UK, almost everyone faces competition from other UK designers for domestic projects (97%), but the 78% of designers reporting overseas competition for the same work say that it’s from designers in Asia (56%) - in particular India (38%) and China (26%) - and Western Europe (30%).

For digital and multimedia designers there’s notably strong competition coming from India (52%) and for product and industrial designers, China provides the strongest single source of competition, with 42% of these designers naming the country as a competitor.

But the UK’s presence in global markets is also strong: in every area of the world the main competition for work, second only to local designers, comes from other UK designers - 20% of respondents say they face competition from other UK designers when competing for work in overseas markets.

Who’s facing the most competition?

A higher proportion of product and industrial designers report strong overseas competition for UK work than any other design discipline, with 41% saying it’s strong or very strong. Over half of these product designers (58%) say they face competition for UK work from Asia.

Chart 10

Location of international competition by discipline

Communications	%
Asia	43
Western Europe	38
North America	15
Eastern Europe	5

Digital and multimedia	%
Asia	55
Western Europe	24
North America	11
Eastern Europe	24

Product and industrial	%
Asia	58
Western Europe	37
North America	13
Eastern Europe	5

Interior and exhibition	%
Asia	15
Western Europe	39
North America	27
Eastern Europe	12

Do designers expect international competition to affect their business performance?

Just over a quarter of designers expect that overseas competition in international markets will cause their turnover (28%) and profit (27%) to fall. Surprisingly, the majority of UK designers expect there to be no impact.

What do designers think will increase overseas competition?

We asked designers what they think might cause overseas competition to increase. Some reasons given include design services being offered at a lower cost overseas than in the UK and designers in other countries developing quickly and becoming better placed to compete with the UK.

How are UK designers responding to this competition? 

 Where can companies wanting to work overseas get help and advice?