Eight years later... Andrew Summers reflects

Design is essential to Britain - but have business, education and government got the message? As Design Council Chief Executive Andrew Summers stands down after eight years at the helm, we look at how attitudes to design have changed, and how the Design Council has evolved.

By 1995 Britain's society and economy were well on the way to completing the transformation from a post-war model to today's 21st century, knowledge-based incarnation, says Andrew Summers. Design had a high public profile - the likes of Habitat, Dyson and prime-time TV makeover shows saw to that. But businesses weren't quite so receptive. While competition from overseas became ever more intense, UK businesses stubbornly refused to use design to differentiate their products and services.

And the Design Council wasn't doing as much as it could to help, says Summers: 'In 1995 the Design Council was at its nadir. People were asking what it was for. There were 250 employees, a shop and offices around the country, but it didn't talk to the media and it didn't influence businesses.'

The Design Council, newly stripped down to 50 employees and now based in Covent Garden, set off in a new direction. 'We employed a new team of Directors to concentrate on knowledge and research,' says Summers. 'We chose people with direct experience of business, public affairs and education and people with passion about design. We switched from trying to influence the public to influencing users of design within business.'

Helped in part by a buoyant economy, business attitudes to design began to change - in 1999, 24% of businesses said design was 'integral' to them, while by 2000 that had increased to 35%.

And one by-product of a well-informed business community was a healthier design economy. The second half of the 90s produced proof of that. In 2000, British business spent about £26.7 billion on design as an in-house resource or a bought-in service, while five years earlier manufacturing was spending an estimated £12 billion on design. Between 1996 and 2000 the number of design consultancies rose from 3,000 to 4,000. Summers says: 'The economy may be more challenging now, but the gains design has made will endure. As more businesses have come to see design as a necessity, not a luxury, design consultancies themselves have become more strategic, making them stronger in the face of difficulties.'

The period following its restructuring saw a string of new Design Council initiatives. Creative Britain celebrated Britain's creativity at home and abroad and modernised its international image, Design in Business Week sold the benefits of effective design to SMEs in nationwide events (as well as building partnerships with organisations like the CBI and Business Links) and Design in Education Week campaigned for more creativity in the curriculum.

But Millennium Products, which identified 1,012 examples of British innovation and design excellence, took the communication of the design message to a new level. An exhibition toured the world, the project generated £13 million worth of media coverage and by the time Tony Blair - who launched Millennium Products - hosted a reception to honour the last tranche of award winners in 1999, 49% of businesses knew about the initiative.

Millennium Products also led to a big change in the Design Council's work. 'We had concentrated on getting people inspired about design, and Millennium Products contained a lot of good stories showing how design transforms business. But we realised two things - businesses were starting to understand what design could do for them but they needed help to overcome a natural reticence about using it. That has led to us now working directly with businesses and also public sector organisations to embed design techniques and thinking in what they do.'

Alongside projects helping manufacturers and technology businesses use design, the Design Council has begun working with the public sector in the same way, beginning with a new programme, Kit for Purpose, which aims to bring good design into the classroom and raise attainment levels.

Summers says: 'The Government has shown its support for design by supporting initiatives like Kit for Purpose and also Design Against Crime, which has tried to boost awareness of how design can effectively reduce the burden on the criminal justice system. But it's only recently understood that public services should be user-focused and that design can help in that respect.'

He believes the Design Council is now in a stronger position than ever to influence both business and Government. 'We have a very strong team of people. They're very committed and passionate and they're addressing industrial and social issues. Our strength is in influencing people, not delivering services. I'm absolutely confident the Design Council's influence will continue to grow.'

Design Council News Release
28 March 2003
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