The Drum Design Census 2015 highlights growth in design agency sector
The Drum Design Census 2015, an insightful research report on the UK design industry, is published today, revealing growth in the sector.
An annual publication reviewing the performance of agencies offering a broad range of design and brand services, the Design Census this year found that the design sector in the UK remains buoyant, with design fee income totalling over £276m. Additionally, of over 120 agencies analysed, total growth in fee income over the last financial year was over £40m.
The annual research ranked agencies according to The Drum's three well-established criteria for its Census reports - financial performance, client satisfaction and peer recommendation.
Furthermore, the results were categorised by staff size, with agencies ranked only against other agencies with comparable design staff numbers. The Census is therefore organised into four groups: agencies with over 40 staff, agencies with 20-39 staff, those with 10-19 staff and shops with fewer than 10 staff; ensuring a fairer comparison. Agencies performing well across all three of the report's criteria achieve elite status.
Design Bridge topped the financial table for the second year running for agencies in the largest staff size group. With a strong performance across the rankings of fee income, fee income growth and fee income per head, the agency ranked above competitors including Jones Knowles Ritchie, BrandOpus, Bulletproof and Rufus Leonard, who all ranked in the top five.
Jones Knowles Ritchie, meanwhile, topped the peer recommendation table and the elite table for agencies with over 40 staff - due to its strong performance across all three tables, while Refinery ranked first for client satisfaction.
More insights can be found in the Design Census supplement published with the latest issue of The Drum magazine, available for subscribers. The full report, detailing all tables, findings and insights, is also available for purchase.
You can also view some of the topline findings at The Drum Design Census website.