Find design flair to please market
Oct 20 2007 by Iain Laing, The Journal
ADRIVE to make small businesses use design more effectively which is hoped to create thousands of jobs begins in the North-East next week.
The Designing Demand campaign is aimed at 6,500 companies nationally to help SMEs create more than 4,000 jobs in the next two years.
Head of enterprise and business support at One NorthEast Tim Pain said: “The Regional Economic Strategy highlights the huge importance of design in helping businesses to compete in the global economy by improving their productivity and efficiency, and the region has made considerable progress in this field.
“Designing Demand has already proved successful in other parts of the UK and I hope many businesses will take up this opportunity of getting expert advice on how design can help them.”
The campaign has been instituted by the Design Council and is run regionally by the North-East Business and Innovation Centre (Bic) and Entrust, and funded by One NorthEast and The European Regional Development Fund.
The inception of the programme was underlined by a review of creativity in business, commissioned by the Treasury in 2005. It concluded that UK businesses face increasingly tough competition from fast-growing economies such as India and China, as they look to move beyond cheap manufacturing.
Entrust operations manager Pam Clark said: “The review concluded that businesses, particularly SMEs, need help to get the most out of design. One way in which companies in the UK can act to counter the growing competition from overseas is to add extra value to existing products and services.
“Designing Demand aims to address these matters, by singling out design as a key tool in exploiting new ideas and getting them to market in the form of better products and services.”
The regional programme will initially consist of workshops for business advisers, designers and SMEs.
North-East Bic chief executive Paul McEldon said: “Whether your company has recently launched and is looking for investment and quick growth, or is an established business searching for a fresh burst of energy and a new strategic direction, the Designing Demand workshops will help to develop the skills required to get the most out of design.”
The workshops will be followed by the implementation of business growth services to help participating companies put design into action, backed by free expert one-to-one advice from design associates.
Representatives from the small business sector, including design consultants and agencies, are invited to attend the North-East launch on October 23, which will include a presentation from Louise Connolly-Smith, senior partnership manager at the Design Council.
