Around a third of companies have increased their design spend in the past year – and expect investment to grow over the coming 12 months. But as the UK entered recession, the majority of firms were predicting cutbacks on design spending.
The details
Are UK companies spending more on design?
34% of UK businesses have increased their spending on design in the past year; only 5% reported spending less.
However, in spite of evidence that companies are attaching greater importance to design to boost business performance, 61% had not changed their expenditure on design in the past twelve months.
23% of companies in Wales reported increased design spending – more than double the figure of any other region. This is significant, since elsewhere in this study Welsh firms have appeared less convinced by the importance of design. But Wales also has the most companies whose spending on design has grown smaller (21%).
Will UK companies spend more on design in the next twelve months?
32% of UK companies expect their design expenditure to grow in the next twelve months.
Although this study was completed shortly before the UK officially entered recession, the majority of companies were already predicting slower growth in design spending compared to the previous year.
In Wales, for example, where 23% of companies reported increased design expenditure over the past twelve months, only 2% expect to achieve the same rate of growth in the coming year. And of the companies who expected their design spending to decrease in the next year, 78% felt this was influenced by the current economic situation to a large or very large extent.
But many firms continue to invest in design. The same percentage of companies whose design spending remained static last year (61%) expect it to be unchanged again in the coming year.
How much do UK companies spend on design services?
Spending on design salaries or external commissions has a close correlation to the size of the company.