I don't know the UK situation, so can't react on that.
What I have read about your posts from the company that you are in, you will be probably facing hard times to design and sell your own lighting gear.
This is especially true if you don't have the experts around to create something with good lasting quality, buyers will shift to the competition, some for price, some for quality and guarantee (as far as that goes).
LED has changed the Lighting business dramatically and even the big players struggle to think about how to earn money in the future.
You see them moving from mass production of boxes to services.
Services is the only thing left what can generate steady income streams in our part of the world.
To be able to create services you need affiliated installers in all major cities in the big countries to do the installer and maintenance work for you.
You earn from the software services you provide. This might seem hard to grasp for HW oriented people but look around what IBM has done for instance and what other big companies are doing. Look at the decreasing margins on consumer electronics such as tv's from 1990 to today, this will happen with consumer lighting products as well and also for industrial lighting, it will become a commodity that each small firm can produce and the margins will shrink and shrink.
The only exception I can think of in the lighting domain are the ultra exclusive design fixtures, that look hot and preferably have an Italian origin
Instead of the $60 that Ikea charges you for such a fixture you can sell them for $2500 and still have a happy exclusive clientele.