Sir George Cox is former Head of the Institute of Directors and former chairman of the Design Council. He believes that designers can help British SMEs to innovate and are a vast untapped source of work for UK’s small design businesses. He wrote the Cox Review of Creativity in Business: building on the UK’s strengths, for the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2005. It was about how to exploit the nation’s creative skills more fully.

Since then, there’s been a fierce recession and we wanted to ask him how, in today’s climate, small design companies can approach SMEs? Does the recession offer new opportunities?

In the fallout from the recession, Sir George said there are more people offering design but it’s interesting to note that internal design teams are not being cut and, in addition, there is more work going to smaller companies. From the SMEs’ perspective, he says, this means that the potential to transform and scale up is enormous. Our creative skills are under exploited and there is big potential.

The need is obvious, but why is the demand limited? He lists a number of reasons: lack of awareness, no experience of change, they don’t see the relevance of design, there’s a lack of confidence in the outcome, they don’t know where to turn to for help, they lack ambition, they are too busy sorting out the day to day problems which seem bigger, they don’t know how to reach designers. There is a job to be done here. We need to show how design can bring huge benefits.

He told us how Design Council’s Designing Demand programme, which is fuelled by the Regional Development Agencies, helps SMEs. He quoted a lovely example of business innovation; Naylor Industries who diversified from clay pipes to flowerpots with the help of designers to build product development processes and build a brand. This led to enormous growth. http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/Design-Council/2/Press/Yorkshire-Flowerp...

This is a good example of not fighting over a small share but expanding the market. Designer should be doing the same.

Getting the public sector to use design more was another outcome of the Cox Review. What is needed is design thinking, not more spending. The Design out Crime and Design out Bugs programmes, led by the Design Council, are examples of looking at the causes of problems. http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/Search-Results/?searchKey=design+out+bug...

He asked, “what influences small businesses?” Answer: other local businesses. The problem small design businesses face is how to get to SMEs. SMEs don’t spend money on consultants. The pragmatic answer, once again, is to network in the business community. Not just to meet potential clients but to understand how SMEs think and what the issues are. He suggests going to big conventions and meetings where people discuss business issues.

There were plenty of questions from the fully packed house:

Q How do you engage SMEs?
A You have to understand their problems. When selling, don’t talk about yourself. Ask questions, find out about the client. If they are unsophisticated, use their own language and never an expression they can’t use themselves. Build trust by giving good, straight advice; when you’ve got their trust, they’ll start talking to you.

Q from Amanda Tatham: If you are paid in another way than straight fees, how can you value your design input?
A Revenue is a figure that’s real, profits are an opinion. You mentioned advising clients as well as designing in an earlier conversation over breakfast There is great value in being a friend to a company, especially once they discover you have a broader understanding and can ask the dumb question.

Q The problem with the public sector is that they are screaming out for new design but have inertia and lack confidence.
A The key is in getting them to look at the right problem. Also the issues are not joined up: for example, if you have a bed that will solve nursing problems, who in the organisation will think about the savings in nursing time? The procurement department will just see it as an expensive bed. The answer is to relax the rules for procurement and that is happening.

Q from Simon Sholl: thinking of SMEs needs for design – what is design?
A Creativity is the creation of ideas. Innovation is the introduction of change. Design links them (and therefore is not art). It links creative thinking to a result.

Q The design process is slow and so is its adoption. How quickly is this attitude changing?
A The Internet is accelerating the process. Change happens by natural selection. Service design is still appalling – the medical treatment is good but getting it is a problem.

Q Final question from Mike Abrahams: We know politicians are fickle and we live in a culture that slags off spending on design. Who do you vote for? The trouble with politicians is they require to be re-elected so no-one votes for the long term.
A They can’t solve the issues we are voting them in for without new thinking. Design out the causes.