Growing Design? Challenges and Constraints Facing Design Consultancies in Three English City-Regions

Abstract

Sunley P., Pinch S. and Macmillen J. Growing design? Challenges and constraints facing design consultancies in three English city-regions, Regional Studies. There is some debate as to whether creative industries can thrive in second-tier industrial city-regions, as well as in leading global cities. This paper uses the results of firm interviews with design consultancies to examine their experiences in three industrial cities in the United Kingdom: Manchester; Newcastle, and Birmingham. It highlights the major constraints on growth in each city and it emphasizes the quantity and quality of demand, and the availability of skilled labour. It considers the effects of design and cultural policy initiatives and finds that most measures are perceived to have had only ambiguous and minor supportive impacts.

Sunley P., Pinch S. et Macmillen J. Développer la conception? Les défis et les contraintes auxquels font face les cabinets-conseil en conception dans trois cités-régions d'Angleterre, Regional Studies. On a fait couler beaucoup d'encre sur la capacité des industries innovatrices de prospérer dans des cités-régions industrielles à deuxième niveau, aussi bien que dans les grandes villes mondialisées de premier plan. Cet article se sert des résultats des interviews auprès des cabinets-conseil en conception afin d'examiner leurs expériences dans trois grandes villes industrielles au Royaume-Uni: à savoir, à Manchester, à Newcastle et à Birmingham. On met l'accent sur les principales contraintes à la croissance dans chaque grande ville et souligne la quantité et la qualité de la demande, et la disponibilité de la main-d'oeuvre qualifiée. On considère les effets des initiatives en faveur de la conception et de la politique culturelle. Il s'avère que la plupart des initiatives sont considérées n'avoir eu que des effets de soutien ambigus et mineurs.

Conception Cabinets-conseil Cité-région Contraintes Politique

Sunley P., Pinch S. und Macmillen J. Wachsendes Design? Herausforderungen und Hindernisse für Designberatungsfirmen in drei englischen Stadtregionen, Regional Studies. Die Frage, ob kreative Branchen in industriellen Stadtregionen der zweiten Ebene ebenso gut gedeihen können wie in führenden Weltstädten, wird kontrovers diskutiert. In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir anhand der Ergebnisse von Interviews mit Designberatungsfirmen die Erfahrungen dieser Firmen in drei Industriestädten Großbritanniens: Manchester, Newcastle und Birmingham. Wir verdeutlichen die wichtigsten Wachstumshindernisse in den jeweiligen Städten unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Quantität und Qualität der Nachfrage sowie der Verfügbarkeit von qualifizierten Arbeitskräften. Ebenso untersuchen wir die Auswirkungen von design- und kulturpolitischen Initiativen und stellen fest, dass die Auswirkungen der meisten Maßnahmen als zweifelhaft und wenig hilfreich beurteilt werden.

Design Beratung Stadtregion Beschränkungen Politik

Sunley P., Pinch S. y Macmillen J. ¿Crecimiento del diseño? Retos y limitaciones de empresas consultoras de diseño en tres regiones metropolitanas de Inglaterra, Regional Studies. Se debate si las industrias creativas pueden prosperar en regiones metropolitanas industriales de segundo nivel tan bien como en metrópolis líderes. En este artículo utilizamos los resultados de entrevistas con empresas consultoras de diseño para analizar sus experiencias en tres ciudades industriales del Reino Unido: Manchester, Newcastle y Birmingham. Destacamos cuáles son los principales obstáculos para el crecimiento de cada ciudad y ponemos de relieve la cantidad y calidad de demanda y la disponibilidad de trabajadores cualificados. También analizamos los efectos de las iniciativas políticas de diseño y cultura y constatamos que la mayoría de medidas han tenido solamente un efecto ambiguo y de poco apoyo.

Diseño Empresa consultora Región metropolitana Limitaciones Política

Keywords:

• Design
• Consultancy
• City-region
• Constraints
• Policy

JEL classifications:

• L8
• L84
• R11
• R30

Acknowledgement

The research on which this paper is based was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (Grant Number 062-23-0083, ‘The Geography of Commerical Design’).

Notes

Cultural regeneration policies take many forms; they might be broad support for culture as it is produced and/or, culture as it is consumed; they might be very broad city-wide policies; or they might focus upon a specific cultural quarter (Miles and Paddison, 2005; MommAas, 2004).

At present, the SIC codes are anachronistic and lack a clear category for design firms that are allocated to numerous subcategories. As a consequence, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was forced to use an estimated percentage for 7484 Other business activities not elsewhere classified as a proxy for the size of the design sector. A revision of the SIC system is planned and this will aim to provide a better representation of design.

The concentration of the largest consultancies (those over 250 employees) is even greater, with 67% based in London and the South East in 2005 (Design Council, 2005).

The British Design Innovation database is based on a promotional membership register of design companies. It is not comprehensive, but includes a high proportion of larger and exporting companies (Reimer et al., 2008).

The city-regions have been constructed by the amalgamation of unitary authority areas in order to capture commuting effects.

The Design Council also notes that the West Midlands has a relative strength in product and industrial design as it contained 12% of design businesses in this sector in 2005 (compared with 41% in London and the South East, and only 2% in the North East).

The 5-acre Custard Factory complex was first developed in 1988 and now consists of over 150 creative industries in fields such as visual arts, music, printing, and graphic design. However, until recently, development of the area has been inhibited by the city council's focus upon flagship developments such as the International Convention Centre (Porter and Barber, 2007). The Big Peg is a large office block in the heart of Birmingham's historic jewellery quarter. It was erected in 1960, but recently refurbished to provide accommodation for artistic, media, and creative industries, as well as jewellery workers (a ‘peg’ being a traditional term for jewellery workers' cramped operating spaces).

There are two main promotional and supportive membership organizations, the DBA and the BDI, open to design consultancies. In addition, the Design Council is a state-funded promotional and educational organization.

DandAD is an educational charity founded in 1962 and headquartered in London that is designed to support education and enterprise in design and advertising. In March 2006, it opened a northern branch in Manchester.

DOTT (Design of the Times) is an annual design exhibition organized by the Design Council aimed at raising the profile of design. It was first held in Newcastle in 2007.