In autumn 2009 the Design Council conducted its second comprehensive survey of the UK design industry.
The survey, published in March 2010, covered 2,200 design businesses including in-house design teams, design consultancies and freelance designers working across communications, digital & multimedia, interior & exhibition, product & industrial, fashion and service design disciplines.
Design businesses were asked about the profile and size of their businesses, their clients and the competition they face, their business practices and the education, training and skills of their employees.
More specifically, product and industrial design businesses account for just over 10% of the UK's design businesses.
The discipline is well established in the UK.
Over a third of product and industrial design businesses have been operating for 15 years or more, although the number of in-house design teams and freelance designers working in product and industrial design has fallen since 2005.
Product and industrial design businesses record higher fee incomes/budgets than other disciplines but reported lower levels of growth in demand for their services.
In terms of recruitment, product and industrial firms are 6% more likely to have taken on new designers in last year than the national average for design businesses.