Companies of all sizes should be Investors in Design

Having read its submission to the Cox Review, I would like to congratulate the Design Business Association on an excellent piece of work that offers Sir George Cox and Chancellor Gordon Brown an exciting, tangible initiative. It will facilitate the adoption of measures that will give designers’ work a level of accessibility probably not otherwise possible.

I particularly like the proposals for an Investors in Design programme and non-executive director’s network. It occurs to me that adoption of these ideas will only work if tax credits or some other tangible incentives are offered to participants. The DBA has gently suggested this approach and I hope it will earnestly explore the possiblities.

Another positive outcome is that ‘creative’ – or senior design manager non-executives on the boards of small- to medium-sized companies – would probably earn the British economy far more money if they were to sign up to the programme. That way companies of all sizes would benefit, not just the proposed ‘Top 500 UK companies’, where adoption is already far higher.

So what next? Will the DBA keep pushing for its ‘single, big idea’, irrespective of the outcome of the review? And what role can supporters play, possibly co-ordinated by Design Week? Let’s hope Design Week does not lose interest and keeps us informed with less brevity than the recent (DW 22 September) issue.

Jon Gold, Managing director, Catalyst Group, by e-mail

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