Jim Dawton to head UK office of Danish group Design It

Danish consultancy Design It has struck a deal with industrial designer Jim Dawton to open its first UK office.

Dawton has a 30 per cent stake in Design It London, with the holding company controlling 70 per cent. He will run the UK operation and play a broader strategic role within the group.

Design It London will open a multidisciplinary office in London early next year, with plans for six people initially. Already on board are product designer Ian Dera and strategist Kathryn Richards, both of whom worked with Dawton at Pearson Matthews Group, which went into liquidation in September 2008.
Dawton is courting clients in all sectors, ‘though healthcare is a big target’, he says.

Design It has offices in Aarhus and Copenhagen in Denmark, as well as in Oslo, Gothenburg, Munich, Paris and Shanghai. ‘It is not global at the moment,’ says Dawton, ‘but pan-northern European.’