Q&A: Katherine Elworthy

Katherine Elworthy joined the BIID in 2006. As chief operating officer her role is to support the council in developing effective strategies, as well as managing the institute team. As she marks 15 years in the post of COO we asked her to reflect on the changes she has seen in the world of interior design, share the projects the BIID has undertaken in that time that she is most proud of, and to tell us what she sees on the horizon for the institute.

You’ve reached your 15 year anniversary at the BIID. How does it feel?
I feel very proud and lucky to work for such a fantastic organisation with a lovely team. So many things have changed over the years for the positive, in terms of how we have grown, but also so many things have stayed the same and it is lovely to be able to work with a lot of the same people I did all those years ago. One of the things I love about the BIID is that as a relatively small not-for-profit organisation we can be very agile and responsive to our members’ needs. It is so rewarding to be able to work with the staff team and member volunteers to come up with a new idea and then research and launch it within a relatively short time frame.

Can you tell us about your background, and what brought you to your role as chief operating officer? 
After I graduated from university I worked as a picture researcher and editor. This involves searching image libraries for suitable images to be used in magazines, newspapers, websites, books and advertising in addition to conceiving of and directing photo shoots. I really enjoyed it and as a lifelong magazine obsessive it was fun to actually work on one but after a few years I wanted to challenge myself in a different way. Whilst I was considering the different options, an opening appeared at the BIID for a short-term role. I started there and just really enjoyed it. In those days there were only three of us in the staff team and within a few months I was offered the role of institute manager to oversee the day-to-day running of the organisation and I gladly took it. It was definitely a case of right place and right time!

What are the biggest changes you have seen in the world of interior design over 15 years? 
I think there has been a shift to more engagement with ‘big picture’ issues such as sustainability and inclusivity. The last few years have seen so many exciting interior design-led initiatives in these areas. I think overall we have just seen an increasing appetite for anything that will enable a designer to increase their knowledge and expertise. There have been several changes in legislation over the past 15 years that impact designers including the Bribery Act (2010), Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (2015) and the Building Safety Act (2022) and it is a real balancing act for designers to ensure they are fully compliant with all relevant legislation in addition to continuing to develop their design, specifying and project administration skills.

And what changes have you seen within the BIID itself? 
One of the biggest changes is the expansion of our staff team from three to six which has enabled us to offer so much more for our members and significantly increase our national profile. We were able to build up our events programme to increasingly bigger and more complex events and the BIID Interior Design Awards is now our most high-profile event of the year. We now provide a wealth of educational content for our members in the form of articles, guides and CPDs.

Which are the BIID projects you have overseen that you are most proud of?
This is a hard one! I would say the Kick Out The Kick-Backs campaign which highlighted the issue of bribery in interior design and received a great response from both designers and suppliers. More recently I would say the review and relaunch of the process by which people become registered interior designers which has resulted in a more streamlined and inclusive yet rigorous process that has resulted in our highest ever membership growth.

What are the most important challenges currently facing the profession? 
Some sectors of interior design are very vulnerable to downturns in the economy, so I think it is very challenging for designers to be able to build businesses that are resilient to changing economic times. The issues surrounding sustainability continue to present a lot of challenges. Most of our members work incredibly hard to ensure that they design their client projects in the most sustainable way but for those members that work for small practices, having the time and resources to fully investigate supply chains can be challenging.

What do you see in the future of the BIID? 
I think the future for us is very bright. There are still a lot of designers in the UK that are not yet BIID members and we feel very confident that we have a lot to offer them. We never rest on our laurels and continually challenge ourselves to offer more – more membership benefits, more information for designers, more partnerships that increase our national and international profile and more opportunities to showcase design talent through competitions and awards. We benefit so much from the talents that our members bring to the table when they volunteer on working parties, committees and our council of directors – as our membership grows this talent pool will grow, too.

Take a look at our designer Q&As with Charu Gandhi, Chloe Bullock, Susie Rumbold, Sophie Ashby, Sue Timney, Staffan Tollgård, Jenny Weiss and Helen Bygraves, Kelly Hoppen, Shalini Misra, Katharine Pooley, Brian Woulfe, and Christopher Dezille.