The work of UK design firms is respected worldwide. So how come most seem to get stuck after an early growth spurt? Where are the sustainable firms reaping commercial rewards that match their creative kudos?
The Design Business Association, backed by NESTA, gave Pembridge Partners LLP a simple brief in a project they christened Small / Medium / Large. Feedback has been very positive:
Deborah Dawton, MD, Design Business Association, said: "SML represents a unique combination of strategic consultancy and business mentoring"
David Dunn, 442 Design, said: "We found the initial meeting extremely worthwhile. It raised a number of key issues and flushed out others that were nestling in the background. It also allowed us to establish a mid term focus for the business which was previously lacking. The process helped the four company directors agree a clear development path which enabled us to maximise our creative output whilst growing the business commercially. It was important for us to establish a business model that allowed us to do both."
Gus Desbarats, Chairman at The Alloy, said: "Access to other business experience is alway useful. The whole exercise creates a project which in itself generates action outside the norm. It has actually been oddly reassuring to hear that others agree we are genuinely differentiated."
David Wilson, Black i Design, said: "We all felt very refreshed and positive after the consultation, mainly because of the tactics deployed. Starting from the emotional/personal goals positioning was really thought provoking and meaningful. It was also interesting to hear two objective analyses of the business. I thought David and Rose were articulate and passionate and we came away knowing that were were in safe hands! Time-tabling and structuring our expectations really has give us something to focus on and aim for. It has also made me very excited about our future. We felt very re-assured and comfortable that there weren't any huge criticisms or questionable gaping holes in the business plan. Much of what was said only confirmed that our way forward was reasonably accurate and healthy. Sometimes it is really hard to understand your business when you're on the inside. The two founding partners found it considerably difficult to gauge their future, but this consultation, and myself being positioned to be Managing Director has now given them and their involvement in the business a new and noticeable dynamic. I think that this be sustainable because of the importance of targets which need to be achieved, and the positive approach to the future profits."
Guto Evans, Elfen, said: "It's been really positive, full of inspiration and interesting to hear objective views. We have now formulated some thoughts already about our future: being able to bounce ideas off others who aren't involved with the business from day to day, yet having experience in the sector, was excellent. Looking inwards from outside pointing out how things look from another angle is so important. It really helps focus on the important company issues, rather than day to day projects for clients"
Simon Cryer, Northbank Design, said: "It was a very positive first meeting, surprisingly detailed and it quickly identified weaknesses and strengths of both the business as a whole and our roles within it. We identified some issues which we have gone over subsequently and this has lead to some early changes being put in place. Further reaching issues are still being discussed but will doubtless impact on the business in the long run. It gave us many interesting insights into how we were running the business and opened up a series of possible futures that are open to us."
Caroline Hagen, Managing Direcor at Reach Design, said: "It's going really well. The first meeting was constructive and we finally understood the mechanics of how we might eventually sell the business, ie the difference between an MBO, an MBI and a sale. It also prompted Richard and I to really thing about our roles in the company and how these need to evolve over time. The second meeting was even better, we finally resolved an issue we had had for years about understanding the role of one of our key members of staff and has subsequently had a very constructive and revealing appraisal meeting with him. We also developed our ideas about our roles and created a very useful staffing structure plan. All in all, it's been great. Very stimulating and challenging and is already having an effect on how we're running the business. Long may it last!"
Nicky Clark, Seachange Creative Partners, said: "Sally and I thoroughly enjoyed the initial meeting. We came away feeling enthused, motivated, reassured and keen to act on the basis of the advice given. Its tricky running your own business, you never really get direct feedback (good or bad) on the way you are managing things. You usually have to deduce how you are doing via management accounts, perception of client satisfaction and employee morale. As Owner-Directors it was really beneficial to take time out to focus on the future rather than just get through the day-to-day. We feel we have already benefited from the initial session and appreciated receiving professional, objective input. As far as we are concerned, there is a long way to go to get everything in place to meet our business and personal objectives but we feel more confident having the bones of a plan in place and knowing what the next steps are. Both Sally and I hope that we will be lucky enough to receive further consultancy time through this initiative as we really feel Seachange will benefit from further input at this critical point of growth. We feel that the first session has helped to clear the cloud at the tip of the iceberg but there is a way to go yet!"
Stephen Ellefsen, Managing Director at Vivado, said: "The meeting that my colleague Peter and I had with David and Rose was particularly helpful. One area that came up was our need to focus our new business activity towards larger and more established customers and a corresponding higher level of spend. We have pulled away from chasing smaller companies (and spend levels) on your advice, this has given us more time to focus on bigger companies. Our profitability per project has now started to move upwards, although we still have a great deal of work to do I feel that we are making progress. We have recently won two new clients even though we provided the most expensive solution in one case. I am very keen to maintain the growth in Vivado and if possible accelerate that growth. I felt that one of the strongest points that came over from David and Rose was knowledge of the creative and design sector which is exactly what I was hoping for."
