Millennium to showcase top 200 products

The Millennium festival will be “hit with a wonderful presentation of the UK’s capacity to create top quality products”, says Design Council chairman John Sorrell.

The festival is expected to be the climax of The Millennium Product Challenge, the working title of a project Sorrell hopes to kick off “very, very quickly – time is of the essence as the festival is only three and a half years away”.

The festival is expected to showcase “200 of the best UK products and services for the 21st century”, according to the Department of Trade and Industry’s third Competitiveness White Paper published last week. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to show the world our design skills,” adds Sorrell.

The Millennium Product Challenge is currently being discussed by the DTI and the Millennium Commission. The discussions are expected to take three months. Sorrell expects small firms to receive development funding from the project.

Government business advisor Sir Peter Levene was expected to tell the Millennium Commission this week that he can raise 144m for the festival at Greenwich.