Creating new value from competition

Support: Creating new value from competition

Businesses need to find new ways to compete in ever more challenging markets and public services must balance people's expectations with tight budgets. Both could do with design on their side. 

We provide support and advisory services that help small and medium-sized businesses, university technology transfer offices and public sector managers use design, often with dramatic results on their bottom-line.

Our Design Associates provide coaching, mentoring and guidance, and they have helped more than 1,800 businesses use design to create more value and be more competitive. 

 

Designing Demand

Designing Demand is a national programme helping small and medium-sized businesses use design to become more innovative, competitive and profitable.

Naylor's flowerpots being madeIt has helped Naylor Industries spot new market opportunities, notch up £30m annual sales and achieve recession-weathering performance by using design to diversify from producing clay pipes to flowerpots. 

Innovate for Universities

Innovate for Universities is helping scientists and technologists use design to develop new applications for their research and increase the chances of it being commercialised.

Design Associates

Design Associates are the heart of our support programmes. They are some of the UK’s foremost strategic design specialists, recruited for their expertise in business and design and their track record working with CEOs, management boards and other senior decision makers.

Public Services by Design

Public Services by Design supports public service managers, helping them to see how design could transform their services and then achieve that in cost-effective ways by working with designers to better meet the needs of their clients.

A public services by design workshop

Website resources

Our website features useful resources for business and public sector managers. We've compiled a set of free guides to using design, as well as case studies of public sector design projects and businesses that have benefited from using design. There's also a list of networks and organisations you might find helpful.

Design Council work

Helping Britain use design to build a stronger economy and improve everyday life

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