How Britain Jumpstarts Design

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Then, to refresh the product line, the team also recommended the company use a signature designer. Fisher invited proposals for an updated design of an already successful product, a knife sharpener. Sam Hecht (BusinessWeek, 12/19/06), a talented designer whose clients include Japanese retailer Muji, presented a foam model rather than paper sketches. This reassured Fisher and enabled him to compare the new model with the product's previous incarnations—both to understand the evolution of the design and to ensure that the product could be made using the company's chosen manufacturing methods. Since then, Hecht's designs have gone on to win international awards.

The company spent more than $200,000 on design and is now reaping the rewards. Though Fisher declined to share sales figures, Taylors Eye Witness has won new business from high-end British retailers such as Conran Shop and Heal's; and, most recently, from Williams-Sonoma (WSM) in the U.S., its first international customer. "They invested a lot to make all these changes—and it totally re-energized the company," says Jonathan Ball, the independent design manager who led its Designing Demand program. "Now with the rebranding and new products they have a second wind."

Even the once-doubtful Fisher is a design convert. "Not all the new products have been as successful as we would have liked," he says. "But design has helped change people's perceptions of us as a company; it has helped us take our brand more upmarket."

Bolstering Britain's Creative Edge

Designing Demand is just one recommendation outlined in the Cox Review of Creativity in Business, commissioned by then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown in 2005. The review aimed to enhance business productivity by drawing on Britain's creative and cultural industries. According to an independent June report commissioned by the Department of Culture, Media & Sport, Britain's creative sector employs 1.8 million people and contributes 7.3% of the national economy—roughly the same as the financial services industry. Cox, who's been chairman of the Design Council since 2004, warns that Britain has a "window of opportunity" of 5 to 10 years before countries such as China and India have the creative skills to compete with their British counterparts.

Cox's other recommendations include the creation of higher education centers offering multidisciplinary courses combining management studies, engineering and technology, and creative disciplines; a national network of design centers; and a change in public procurement policies to encourage suppliers to be more innovative. And, of course, Designing Demand. Since the review was published, more than 1,000 businesses have completed the program—and Cox hopes to reach 6,500 by 2010.

It's a fraction of the estimated 4.3 million small businesses in Britain, but Cox believes that the program's economic impact will be much bigger. "Companies that go through the process develop an appetite for continued innovation," he says. The hope is that they in turn, will spread the word to others. "It's a trickle-down effect," he says. "There is a growing recognition that if we are going to revitalize the economy, it will be based on utilizing our creative skills," He adds: "I don't care what industry you're in; if you're not innovating you don't have a future."