How a KTP can help your business
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Does your business have a challenge it needs to address? Do you have a strategic project you want to get off the ground, but don’t have the time or resources? Well, Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) has the answer for you.
It has been supporting innovative and collaborative thinking for the past 47 years by bringing together business ideas and academic expertise.
Funded by Innovate UK, KTP supports forward-thinking businesses to work with world class academic teams and bring in a talented graduate – known as a KTP associate – to develop and deliver a transformational project to help realise the company’s growth ambitions.
And the best part? Your risks are reduced enormously, as you get help with the financing of the whole thing. Innovate UK will fund 67 per cent of the programme for small businesses and cover half the costs for bigger businesses.
North of Scotland KTP centre manager Kelly Fraser said: “We work with the business throughout the whole lifecycle of the project. We help them to scope out the project based on their strategic needs and knowledge gap, drafting and submitting the funding application, and provide project administration support for the duration of the KTP.”
The projects can run from 12 months to 36 months, with additional support from a Knowledge Transfer adviser who will ensure that the programme stays on track and reaches a successful conclusion.
“KTP is a three-way collaboration between a business, academic team and associate to address a strategic challenge for the business that they can’t address on their own”, explained Kelly.
“They may not have the appropriate expertise or knowledge, which prevents them from achieving their commercial goals – the KTP model helps with this by transferring knowledge from the academic partner, through the work of the KTP Associate, to the company teams to support long-term, sustainable growth.”
“The benefits to businesses are that they are getting a full-time associate, access to academic expertise and state of the art facilities.”
“Additionally, they get to build a relationship with the academic institution - we often see collaboration taking place after the project, and more times than not the associate is recruited by the company after the KTP project ends.”
Kelly added: “We make sure that the business gets the right associate that fits with their team. This may be a graduate with an honours degree, a Master’s degree or a PhD, depending on the nature of the project. It’s a great opportunity to attract talented people to the region, or ensure that local graduates have an opportunity to stay in the north of Scotland.”
One (of many) KTP success stories is that of Harris Tweed Hebrides. The company is currently taking part in a KTP in collaboration with Robert Gordon University. It is seeking to develop new innovative textile products and expand its international market access, providing year-round and sustainable business demand for the Harris Tweed Hebrides brand.
Ruth Masson, marketing manager for Harris Tweed Hebrides said: “The KTP has been invaluable for Harris Tweed Hebrides.
“Our associate, Beth, has explored exciting product development innovations, improved productivity and built on our sustainability credentials which will help transform our business for the future.
“The partnership with RGU has given our company access to a vast knowledge base and as the project comes to an end our relationship continues as we’ve committed to further projects with various schools across the university.”
For Beth Wilson, the KTP associate based at Harris Tweed Hebrides, the experience of being involved in a KTP has been really rewarding.
“My role as KTP associate over the last two years has been one of a kind”, said Beth.
“The support provided by the three contributing parties, academic, business and KTP Centre is unparalleled.
“I have had a range of opportunities present themselves over the course of the project including project managing, product development, gained industry knowledge, identified, and implemented software into the company, benefited from two weeks of management training, undertaken a post graduate degree and attended an immersion course in Costa Rica on biomimicry as part of my personal professional development.
“I have found over the course of the two-year project, the more you put into a KTP the more it gives back.”
For Kelly there is a great sense of satisfaction in her role as manager of the North of Scotland KTP Centre: “I love seeing company teams find a solution or launch a product that makes a real difference to their business.
“Plus there is such a lot of variety in what we do. We work across all sectors and academic disciplines, so there is a broad range of priorities and rewards for all involved. We work with six different academic institutions, and it’s very rewarding to see the associates advance in their careers.”
So if you want to be involved, you need to have the following drivers:
- A company challenge that needs additional input to solve it
- An interest in harnessing innovation to drive your company forward
- A commitment to partnership working, collaboration and growing talent
For more information, just get in touch with Kelly and her team at the North of Scotland KTP Centre.
E: kelly.fraser@ktp-link.co.uk
W: https://ktpnorth.scot
T: 01224 262278
