The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were both great champions of design. Their appreciation of design, and recognition of its influence on British life and business through awards such as Royal Designers for Industry, Prince Philip Designers Prize and Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, will long be remembered.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the Royal Family, and all those who lived and worked alongside the Queen.

HR helpline for DBA members

Croner provide an HR and Employment Helpline which DBA members can call to access practical, reliable HR and employment advice. Find out more here. 

The DBA is back in person; we’re going on a (mini) tour of the country, to bring our members, experts, team, and board together, socially. For you to experience the energy of the industry when we’re together in a room and build on the solidarity found within the DBA community, in person.

No stuffy presentations or formal agenda, we want to celebrate the success we’ve had as an industry over the past few years and foster the connection between the people that make our community unique in the design industry. If there’s something keeping you up at night, or you’ve got a burning question you’d like an answer to or you’d like to share a recent success you’ve had, please tell us as you register. Come with an open mind, ready to join in and form connections within the DBA community, and you won’t be disappointed. 

Open to senior leaders from DBA member businesses, but we’d like you to bring along a junior team member too so they can experience the design community at first hand for themselves. Opportunities have been limited for the rising stars within our community, and we want to change that.

Bristol – 15 November at Riverstation, 6-9pm

Manchester – 16 November at Tariff and dale, 6-9pm

As your national trade association, we’ve seen regional boundaries demolished by embracing technology to bring our community together virtually, and that is not going to change. You will still be able to access all essential member information, professional development, webinars and leadership meetings online. But we’re excited to be able to offer you the opportunity to come and (re)connect with your peers from across the industry and the people behind your DBA in person, informally and socially.

London Members' Event

For business owners

• DBA expert Jack O’Hern, partner at Wright Vigar shared a wealth of information on the options available to you when it comes to succession planning and you can read more about them in this resource.
• The key piece of advice I took from Jack’s advice was the importance of planning, and dedicating time to getting the right plan in place for your business. Do you have a continuity plan if the worst should happen tomorrow? A 2-3 year lead time will mean you can get the business running as profitably as possible before you undertake either an internal or external sale.
• It’s important to ask yourself why you’re doing this and what you want to get out of it.
• Considering the net amount you’d want to get out of a sale is important, and working towards that, whether through multiples of revenue or as a shareholder option.
• Can you take a decent holiday and switch off? Often this is a useful way to see how reliant the business is on the current owner – the more interweaved the business and the owner are, the more work will need to be done to get in a position to sell.
• An often-undervalued option is to retain ownership but not spend your time working in the business, so you can focus your energy on a new project. This is a great way of gearing up for a sale and getting all your ducks in row to keep your options open.
• Management buyouts are a popular option in design, but very dependent on the internal team you have, especially in this labour market when it might be difficult to plug any gaps in your team. How ready are they for this, and what can you do to bring them on the journey to ownership?
• I recommended you subscribe to the 2bobs podcast, this episode on what an acquirer will care about is a good one, but worth subscribing, they’re fantastic, and funny! 

For buyers

• Chris Lang, DBA Expert and Founder at Flash Partners shared an important update on Employee Ownership Trusts and the zero tax option this approach can offer you, you can read more about this here. There is a very good book on EOTs by Chris Budd called The Eternal Business.
• One member shared their experience of a MBO and their top tip was to have some clear boundaries and non-negotiables from the outset to save time and help when it comes to decision making.
• Surround yourself with those who have been through the process before you if you don’t feel you’ve had enough training. The DBA’s Twenty/Twenty mentoring programme can offer you the external support you need, find out more here. 
• Does everyone know the risks involved and understand what they want to achieve? Getting buyers and owners on the same page at the beginning of the process will help keep everything on track. 
• Seek legal advice, both parties need separate representation, you can check out the DBA experts register. 
• There are a multitude of finance options open to MBO teams, from invoice discounting to Northern Powerhouse Investments, there are ways of being involved in an MBO without a privileged background, so it’s worth doing your research into options available to you.

Our Members’ Forum takes place on the first Monday of each month, at 4 – 5pm. If you would like to attend, get in touch here. 

Our next members forum will be taking place on Monday 3 October.

• I was inspired by this article on how reading can improve your life in so many ways.
• If you’re struggling to fit it in, reading can fill in the gaps in your day, it can brighten up the commute no end.
• One member was drawn back to reading when they completed their masters. Encouraged by tutors to read around the subject to develop a unique perspective; this has stood them in good stead and now shapes the way they write and structure arguments with the audience in mind. 
• It’s important to share articles with your team if you want them to think more strategically.
• To the question of where to find books, asking for recommendations on Twitter or Linkedin works for some, or looking at the bibliography of a book you’re reading for wider reading on that subject.
• We were joined by Theresa Destrebecq, Founder at Emerge Book Circles who shared how she works with organisations and leaders to delve deeper into a book. She facilitates deeper learning and as a group, they spend time integrating the ideas within their business. 
• Another member shared insight into how a recommendation from a teacher to read quality fiction, broadsheets, periodicals and journals transformed their life after a late dyslexia diagnosis.
• Similar to when you start designing and you’re encouraged to surround yourself with quality creative, this dedication to reading has improved the quality and rhythm of their writing – yes there might still be spelling mistakes but the composition of the piece is much more thoughtful.

Books recommended included:
Let my people go surfing: the education of a reluctant businessman 
More Bull More: behind the scenes in advertising 
The Power of Co-Creation
Marketing Greatest Hits
Flexible Visual Systems
Company of One
Stanford D School reading list
Financial Times
The Economist – and top tip if you’re a digital subscriber you can have it read to you.

If you’re pushed for time, Blinkist was suggested

Our Members’ Forum takes place on the first Monday of each month, at 4 – 5pm. If you would like to attend, get in touch here. 

Our next members forum will be taking place on Monday 5 September.

Billson's Rebrand | Billson's & Cowan | Grand Prix and Gold

Fred. Olsen Website Optimisation | Fred. Olsen & ELSE | Silver

#ItStillMatters Campaign | Ministry of Justice & Design102 | Silver

LifeLabs | Barnardo's & Leap | Bronze

M&Ms 3D Confectionery Advent Calendar | Mars Wrigley & Path | Silver

Oxford Brewery Rebrand | Oxford Brewery & WPA Pinfold | Gold

Raw Halo Rebrand | Raw Halo & B&B studio | Bronze

Step into the NHS Rebranding and Website Redesign | Health Education England & Brand Ethos | Bronze

Voltaren Flip-top Easy Open Cap | GlaxoSmithKline & DCA Design International | Bronze

All of the 2022 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners results and full case studies can be viewed here.

We were joined by Executive Coach Laura Bartlett, who outlined:

• The first step in assessing where you are is to stop and pause, recognising how you’re feeling and how much energy you have for what lies ahead.
• The importance of sleep if energy is low and how a seemingly simple focus on rest and looking after yourself can have a positive impact on overall wellbeing.
• The need to check in on your own personal vision and the company vision – are they aligned?

As businesses grow, it can feel that you move further away from the work you love – how can you get back to doing more of what excites and energises you?

Shared amongst the group, top tips of small things that can change how you’re feeling and give you and your team more energy were:

• Take a two or even three-week holiday to rest and reset  – and lead by example. Check in if you need to so things don’t stack up.
• Schedule a 2-hour lunch break one day a week; especially important in the winter months but something this member has continued.
• Take a coffee break outside – a break can have a huge impact on the rest of the day.
• Meeting-free days so people can get deep work done.
• Taking proper lunch breaks.

• To encourage your team to change their behaviours the best thing you can do is to speak to them, listen to what they say and then act on it – these will be the policies that have the most impact on how people feel day-to-day. This report by Deloitte highlights a disconnect between how leaders see wellbeing and how employees do, it’s an interesting read. 
• Aliya Vigor-Robertson, Founding Partner at Journey HR, shared this insightful slide showing the difference between overwork and burnout.
• If you’re noticing disconnection in your team, an open conversation about how they’re feeling and what you can both do (as they have a responsibility to themselves too) to engage and excite them again is critical.
• One member shared that working with a mentor as part of the DBA’s Twenty/Twenty mentoring programme really helped them. Seeking external support, whether that’s a mentor, a coach, a councillor is key – especially if you’re a solo business owner.

Our Members’ Forum takes place on the first Monday/Tuesday of each month, at 4 – 5pm. If you would like to attend, get in touch here. 

Our next members forum will be taking place on Tuesday 2 August.

Billson's: the story of a comeback

A dilapidated factory in Australia could have been lost to history, but a young couple fell in love with the building and to save it, risked taking on the unprofitable cordials business it housed. Aiming to transform the failing business into a sustainable one, they worked with Cowan in 2018 to completely rebrand, creating a new positioning, identity and packaging design inspired by the factory’s rich history. 

Tapping into nostalgia, the design differentiated Billson’s in the market, elevating the brand in buyers’ eyes and helping to unlock distribution in over 1,000 local stores. From a base of $160,000, Billson’s became a $7.6million business within two and a half years. Reimagined and restored to its former glory, it is now in the top 3% of local employers and its cordials command a premium price, 89% higher than the market leader.

Chief Executive's speech at 2022 DBA Design Effectiveness Awards

Delivered by Deborah Dawton, CEO, DBA at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards Ceremony 30 June 2022. 

“And so to my speech. Why did I choose to shift it to the end of the ceremony today as opposed to the start? Well, that’s because of the story you’ve just heard (Billson’s Grand Prix winner). You just heard about a business that has made a significant impact on a town’s economy, visitation, and employment in just three years. 

Interestingly, they cited in their case study another business like theirs that had a seven year start on them – a cordials business that too found its original recipes – but Billson’s point to their brand and the design of their packaging as the factors that enabled them to outpace their competitor in just three years. 

This puts Billson’s in the top 3 of employers in Beechworth, Victoria, and half of their performance happened during Covid. 

Most governments dream of this sort of success for their small businesses. In the UK three fifths of employment is down to small businesses – they are the engine of most economies so it’s no wonder governments are fixated on the growth of these businesses. 

Billson’s increased employment from 2 to 28 people in three years. That’s a profound impact on a local community. That’s a bunch of people that didn’t have to go to Melbourne for work. Billson’s restored the buildings which presented them with the opportunity to offer a better visitor experience. That brings more money into the local economy. 2 and half years after launching, 1000 quality retailers stocked their products. That drives profit into those businesses, not to mention the impact that increased volumes would have on Billson’s suppliers. Think of the positive impact of bigger orders for the myriad of small producers that supply Billson’s with fruit for example. 

Billson’s also knew they had to grow their brand to enable innovation and growth by the end of Y2. Their commitment to growth is, and will continue to have far reaching impacts way beyond the ones that were actually included in this case study. I don’t know what you call that ripple effect of impact that travels out from one business doing well into the all the businesses that supply it, and the prosperity that drives into the local community and economy? What I do know is that this case study doesn’t cover that ripple effect. 

And I’m not suggesting that design did all this. Billson’s still had to have great salespeople, a great production line manager, a raw materials purchaser, great packers, great recipes at their core, but I’m guessing that their other competitor had all of these things too. The missing ingredient for the other business was design, Billson’s used design strategically and creatively to drop this brand into the market in exactly the right spot. 

I often talk about design being the yeast in the business mix. Picture if you will a table and on it, the ingredients you need to make a loaf of bread. The smallest ingredient on that table is the yeast, but we all know it must go in at the right time to take effect.

And it struck me, when I was pulling this together, that most small business, and even most medium sized businesses can’t get all the ingredients on the table before they start thinking strategically about their positioning and brand in the market. They don’t have designers in their businesses. They have all the other ingredients, sales, marketing, production and so on.

But nine times out of ten, the founders, or people who buy these businesses don’t have years of experience in design and branding.

And this is where I think governments go wrong. They’re busy trying to create the environment within which businesses can flourish, not realising like the businesses themselves, that the yeast in the business mix, design, is missing from the table. What’s the point of a government export strategy for small businesses, if those small businesses haven’t considered their brand and positioning in new markets.

I’m not advocating that small and medium sized businesses suddenly start employing designers. No. The role of small and medium sized design businesses is to plug that gap at each, and every small and medium sized business table. You need to be talking about what you do in terms of the impact you could have in a business if you were party to the strategic conversation, and not just the creative execution of a strategy that you haven’t read or had anything to do with.

Billson’s competitor will have a strategy, I’m sure of it. But it’s not one that was touched by designers, and if you leave design to the point before the product flies out the door, as a business you’re underutilising design. I’m sure you’ll still shift product, but nowhere nearly as successfully as Billson’s do. And if you’re designers working on these types of briefs where you’re just being asked to get the product out of the door, then you’re underselling design’s role in business, and you and your client will probably never win a Design Effectiveness Award.

So, why am I telling you this today? Well, you’ve just invested an hour of time listening to some amazing stories. I want you to dig into them and learn from them. Read the Billson’s case study. Read the case studies that don’t sit in your area of expertise. Get yourself familiar with the language of design effectiveness. Because, if there’s a recession looming, as designers we need to be exercising the full force of our strategic and creative abilities to get businesses through the next three years.

Government needs to be advocating for design. Please let’s talk about how you could be using these case studies to wake businesses up to the potential of design, so that it’s understood to be the yeast in the business mix. Imagine the Billson impacts on just a fraction of our SME community in the UK. Exposing the CEOs of these small businesses to design in this way will prepare them for a career in industry, and we want design aware CEOs in charge of our global brands.

And to the global brands that do this so well? Please continue to set the example and be generous in sharing you’re your stories through the DBA and other business associations. Please talk about the role of design in your organisations, and how it is that you drive design added value into your brands and businesses.

That brings us to the end of today’s ceremony…..”