A ground-breaking study by The Design Council claims there is a direct relationship between the effective use of design and corporate financial performance.

The study, which examined UK quoted companies over a ten-year period between 1994 and 2003, found that a group of 63 companies identified to be effective users of design outperformed the FTSE 100 index over the full period by 200 per cent, and also surpassed their peers in the recent bull and bear markets.

In the research, the companies were organised into two categories a Design Portfolio and an Emerging Portfolio.

Among the companies in the Design Portfolio the most design-effective, high-performing businesses are many of the UK's leading brands.

The companies include Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and Egg in financial services; Tesco, Marks & Spencer, J Sainsbury and Boots from the retail sector; and air transport companies such as British Airways, EasyJet and BAA.

Ian Ralph of Purton-based design company The Rialto Consultancy, said: "Back in the bad old days of boom and bust, studies proved that companies that used design recovered more quickly from hard times than companies that didn't.

"This latest study again confirms just what I, and the rest of the design profession have maintained for so long, that good design pays."

"And this counts for Swindon as much as any other town."

David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council, said: 'The research shows that design is an important indicator of good management, and that this feeds directly through to the financial performance of these companies."