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Design brings the UK-India Free Trade Agreement to life
We were delighted to launch ‘Horn OK Please’ on Thursday 1 October in London – a manifesto for collaboration and shared prosperity, following the introduction of the UK-India Free Trade Agreement.
The long-awaited UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) came into effect on 15 July 2026 and the DBA was commissioned by the Government’s Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) to advise on the opportunities this brings the UK design sector.
In partnership with Mark Hannant, Co-Founder of DBA member business Indigo CPO, DBA Chief Executive Deborah Dawton went on a fact-finding trade mission to India this July, focusing on the areas of Mumbai and Ahmedabad – meeting UK businesses already active in the region, Indian companies with international footprints, Indian institutions that advocate design skills and design businesses operating in India.
The Horn OK Please report launched on 1 October, advising on the opportunities created by the UK-India Free Trade Agreement, and design’s role in maximising shared prosperity.
The report goes beyond a view of design and communications services as exports.
It considers them as enablers of business success. This view significantly expands the potential scope of creative services in the UK-India corridor. It offers UK design and communications businesses a way to contribute to India’s growth by identifying routes into key sectors.
Those include infrastructure, energy, water, manufacturing, technology, defence, aviation, travel & tourism, healthcare, and retail. All those sectors need industrial design, UI/UX, service and experience design, branding, packaging, storytelling and communications design.
These are things at which the UK excels.
The Horn OK Please report looks at the role of design and communications not just as exports to be tallied but as enablers and multipliers of business success. Through that lens, the report identifies ways in which the UK and India can build partnerships that will contribute to the growth, wellbeing, and shared prosperity of both economies.
The report includes a section highlighting the immediate prospects in several key sectors that are important to both countries and a short list of recommendations. Download your copy of Horn OK Please.
The DBA and Indigo CPO see huge scope for UK-India collaboration.
Its impact will be greater with Government support. We offer the following proposals for consideration by Government:
Design with India
This was Deborah’s first visit to India. “The people and food were warm and welcoming. The honking a soundtrack.”
Trucks are everywhere — their colourful backsides emblazoned with the sign ‘Horn OK Please’. Hand painted versions adorn tens of millions of trucks across this vast country. It is an art form, symbol of economic history and a call to action.
Deborah captures the experience in six lessons:
Lesson one: Mumbai’s beautiful airport has a level of decorative detail that gives a hint of India, but I fear airport design has been largely influenced by global norms. Should it be? There were families sat in large groups on the ground, having a day out to welcome their loved ones back. I don’t think the architect planned for that. Let us encourage India to find her design signature.
Lesson two: I envy the multigenerational living and interdependence. We strive for independence in the UK. Individual desire and drive are celebrated. I see more love and care in India. Bring that into design and we will deliver exceptional products and services that work for people, because of our love of people.
Lesson three: Fix-it culture. I saw a 30-year-old rickshaw being propped up by two men while another tinkered underneath it. No taking the vehicle to the garage and waiting three days for a call. There was a queue and you got your fix the same day. Designers need to be designing more responsibly and more sustainably.
Lesson four: Few roads have lane markings. Those that do are ignored. There is no inside and outside lane. But there is something of a ballet to how this all works. Those of us used to order on our roads will want to bring order to this. Let us not assume that our lived experience is what will work somewhere else. Context is everything. Think of a road hazard in the UK — the silent electric car that we do not hear coming. What can we learn from Mumbai’s city soundtrack that could solve that problem for us?
Lesson five: What in the UK do we need to bring back? What do we need to unlearn? In the name of progress have we cast aside roles and traditions that would in fact solve some of today’s problems?
Lesson six: I saw roads built around trees or trees sat in the middle of pavements, trunks as broad as the pavement. In some places painted trunks and in others, string beautifully woven around their bases. I saw a respect for a species that is all too often in the way in the UK. India is not getting this all right, but its level of respect for living things is something we should adopt in design. How can we design with a mindset that builds and makes better and does not extract and waste?
The report would not have been possible without the financial support from the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and the cooperation of the organisations and individuals who were generous with their time in Ahmedabad and Mumbai.