Conclusion

This report shows the power of design and the significant impact it has on three key areas of the economy – business innovation, places and public services.

We will continue to build on our successes. As laid out in our Strategy 2020-24, we will focus our efforts on three key priority areas: to improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities, to enable sustainable living and help the UK reach its stated net zero targets, and to intensify our market-making work for design, helping people access, understand and learn essential design skills to respond to these and other major challenges.

We are choosing to act in these areas because we are uniquely placed to do so. The issues we are focusing on are complex; they require more than one answer from people across a broad range of disciplines and sectors, from grassroots to government.

We will seek to demonstrate the deeper impact that design can have and will continue to tell compelling stories of how design makes a difference and can be a force for change. However hard, we will seek to evidence a more comprehensive story on the value of design. As well as looking at economics, we will also examine the social and environmental impact of design.

This report tells an overwhelmingly positive story, referencing how the design sector has flourished over recent years. But we publish it at a challenging time – amid the coronavirus pandemic and on the brink of an economic downturn. The sector is now under unparalleled pressure, as shown by our recent research with the Creative Industries Federation.

Right now, we must remain mindful of the power of design to confront the biggest challenges, and ensure it plays a central role in the coronavirus recovery. The findings in this report provide valuable insight into, and inspiration around, the role of design in rebuilding our economy, strengthening society and nurturing our environment both now and over the years ahead.