Don’t discount Liverpool, it’s on the UK design map

I moved to Liverpool in 1988 after graduating in industrial design from the Royal College of Art in London (Letters from Liverpool, www.designweek.co.uk, 21 July). I have laughed out loud subsequently at the stereotyped views on Liverpool that percolate our UK culture.
Liverpool is fairly and squarely on the UK design map. My previous industrial design consultancy, Jab Design Consultancy (employing 12 staff), developed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s first satellite-enabled sea and vessel safety system and the first hand-held blood coagulation monitor for Unipath. My current firm, Butters Innovation, is developing the world’s first fully assisted natural biomechanical device for helping stroke survivors learn how to walk.

This is all world-class innovation leading, through industrial design thinking, towards commercial outcomes. And it’s in Liverpool.

Jonathan Butters, Principal innovation and design consultant, Butters Innovation, Liverpool L17 5WU