A new economic study has claimed that towns like Wrexham will have a key role to play in levelling-up in the UK.

Yesterday, the Design Council - a national strategic advisor for design, launched findings from the upcoming Design Economy Report.

The report is the foundation of their national programme of research and strategic recommendations, showing how the Design Economy can drive the UK’s future prosperity. 

The report’s mission is to show the economic, social, and environmental value of design in the UK and create the conditions needed for good design to thrive across the country. 

Design has been shown to increase productivity and return on investment across the economy, acting as key driver for regional growth and prosperity. 

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Jobs within these design sectors include user experience designers, product designers, development engineers, tailors and dressmakers. 

Amongst the report, seven cities have been identified for having 'strong design clusters', with Wrexham being one of them. 

Wrexham has been highlighted by the Design Council for having clusters in Clothing, Product and Industrial Design. 

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A spokesperson for the Design Council said: "Towns like Wrexham have a key role to play in levelling-up the UK, with resilient design-led initiatives like Ty Pawb helping to support the local economy.

"Our latest Design Economy research found that Wrexham is home to clusters of high design employment in Clothing and Product & Industrial design, with the latter seeing an 150% increase in employment since 2015.

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"Both industries have wages higher than the average for Wrexham."

Chief Executive of Wrexham Council, Ian Bancroft said: "The work by the North West design council confirms the feeling in Wrexham at present that there is a growing confidence in key economic sectors in the city and surrounding County.

"The mix of design industry and cultural industries are at the heart of the identity of Wrexham past and present and formed a key part of our recent runners up bid for a City of Culture.

"The Council recognises they key part it can play in these sectors by encouraging development and investment through initiatives such as Ty Pawb."

The Design Economy report will be published in full on 21 July 2022.