11 Downing Street

1 1986 @ GSA instead of industrial placement – a happy accident and nothing to lose!

– creative collaboration across disciplines, ” European”, and now very fashionable, from base in Glasgow

– belief that all creative process is common and shared – technical specialisms set us apart

– now £1M/year turnover and 17 people

2 we have architects, interior and graphic designers and work in collaboration with musicians, film-makers and other specialists

– clients in UK and abroad including DTI, British Council, IBM, Babtie Group and Royal Mail

– corporate graphics, publications, signage, retail and workplace interiors, pubs, clubs, restaurants and international exhibitions

3 what we do – design is about shaping and controlling experience. We help our clients to control their transactions with their own customers and clients.

Design operates at the crossroads between art and commerce, underpinning intuition with methodology in order to give culture a tangible shape that can be turned into business (next century creativity will be everything).

4 The interiors, objects and publications we collectively create form the backdrop, props and dialogue in our “national theatre”. All industries are cultural industries and every nation will judge us on the quality of our performance!

– Glasgow – memory of excellence and determination to be great again – bias towards risk and innovation, dangerous opportunities. There are no cosy niches.

5 GIL’s future is in consolodating “core” expertise but also exploiting it to form new businesses with partners who have complimentary skills and shared values.

– restaurant with Nick Nairn

– long relationship with education

– broadcasting

– writing and publications

6 4 ideas (based on an agricultural paradigm!)

– business parenting

– business breeding

– valuing mongrels

– looking for lost lambs

7 practise good parenting

– get graduates and turn naivety and idealism into new businesses – they’ve nothing to lose and have great clarity of vision

– give them help and support to aid them in the transition to commercial reality

– every business is different – can’t “teach” business but you can explain principles

8 breed businesses

– get people from disparate areas of arts and sciences to come together and talk because this breeds collaboration and businesses

– reduce cost of business travel (£300 return Glasgow to London)

9 value mongrels

sciences and arts are converging at alarming speed – they’re sharing tools: common software and hardware

– old categorisation of areas of expertise must change – this starts in education but must reach high street lenders: they must be taught to recognise and support mongrels.

– GIL had to become property developers in order to create capital to run the business.

10 look for lost lambs

Move the focus of the media away from London. People need to know what we do – we work, and spend, hard to ensure we’re visible but others can’t afford to.

London-based media repeatedly creates the false impression that nothing of worth happens north of Watford. This has a very real effect on our ability to attract investment and I’m convinced it has slowed business growth in the North.

– you believe what you see and read – if it’s not on the telly or in the press then it’s not happening.