Business Services > KTP
Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is a UK-wide activity that helps businesses improve their competitiveness and productivity by making better use of the knowledge, technology and skills residing within universities, colleges, and research organisations. The three essential elements are:
- Transfer of technology or strategic management expertise from the knowledge base to the company.
- Provision of industry-based training and experience for graduates.
- Enhanced levels of research and teaching in the College.
There are three partners in each KTP
1. Company
- Provides an environment for the Associate to develop professional skills.
- Provides the programme focus.
- Has the financial commitment.
2. Knowledge Base (such as SERC)
- Academic committed to half day per week on average.
- Provides access for the project and Associate to College expertise and facilities.
- Provides support for the Associate.
3. Associate
- Agent of technology transfer.
- Employed by the College but works on the company premises.
- Monthly meetings with project team.
- Personal development plan.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships exist not only to benefit the company partner's business and the Associate's career, but also to help the Knowledge Base partner build closer links with industry so that its research and teaching reflects the needs of the economy.
How do I register my interest?
South Eastern Regional College (SERC) has a dedicated Business Services Team that manages the College's engagement with industry. We provide support to business through upskilling, reskilling and innovation support. We also assist companies to source funding, such as KTPs, to undertake innovation and research and development.
If you are interested in a KTP project, please contact Andrea Kennedy at andreakennedy@serc.ac.uk or 07884430151. Andrea will help you complete an application form for approval by the funders at Innovate UK.
Case study - Greenview Group
SERC is currently carrying out a 2-year Management KTP project with Greenview Group (April 2021-April 2023), following a successful application in June 2020. Greenview Group is a heating and electrical company who has recently merged smaller companies into the larger group.
Main areas being covered in this 2-year Management KTP project are:
Strategic planning
- A Strategic Plan implemented determining positioning and frameworks to identify business model, corporate values, success indicators, organisational goals, measures, targets, and review process; use of strategic planning tools such as Value Chain analysis or Lynch's Four Links Model and evaluating impact.
- Quarterly Strategy Review Meetings: formal quarterly meetings to review progress and adapt the plan.
Creation of Carbon Neutral Plan
Added into plan after associate started due to need identified by sector and business. The associate has been able to attend multiple carbon courses, and then implement a strong carbon plan to help the company meet NetZero Carbon 2030 targets.
Multi-skilling programme development for engineers
This allows engineers in one discipline to respond to calls in another, producing efficiencies in time, resources, cost, and environmental impact: facilitating more competitive pricing and higher quality and environmental capabilities for tendering; and decreasing reliance on sub-contracting. Innovation
- Establishment of Innovation Group incorporating key staff from across the Group to meet regularly, improving cross-functional work across the existing 'silos', reducing back-office costs leading to further efficiencies and more competitive cost models.
- Increased capability in the management structure will facilitate capacity to drive and accelerate innovation and develop new markets e.g. street lighting Quality.
- Standard Operating Procedures produced for management processes and regularly reviewed to standardise and embed processes across the Company with responsible owners assigned.
- Self-evaluation review (SER) and Quality Improvement Plans (QIP) process introduced for each department to promote quality assurance and continuous improvement.
The Company Experience
Michael Burke, CEO - Greenview Group, 15th June 2022
"Greenview is a growing business providing installation and maintenance construction related services to both public and private sectors. In an ever-demanding marketplace, small incremental improvements often provide the innovative changes in service delivery that can make the difference between success and failure. In 2020 we reached out to SERC and their Business Teams to help support our development and they suggested the potential of partnering with them through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme. The team explained the set-up of the KTP programme, the potential to collaborate with academia to innovate for growth and the opportunity to recruit a graduate as an 'associate' that would be the focal point for analysing and delivering business improvement.
The process to date has been very smooth from the awarding of funding through to the recruitment of our business improvement manager and the ongoing monitoring and operation of the programme. We are now some 16 months into this programme and have seen significant benefits in several key areas that have in turn resulted in real improvements to operational performance. Our management team along with our associate are currently mapping out the next stage of the business improvement plan and we feel certain that this will yield to further improvements that will in turn make us more efficient and more competitive in the marketplace.
Our experience of working with SERC as the provider of the programme has been very positive. SERC has been very supportive throughout, and the team has provided a framework for monitoring progress as well as facilitating the development of the associate to meet and respond to the demands of our particular needs. The associate is key to the project and their cultivation, development and motivation is critical to making the project a success. I would very much recommend SERC and the KTP programme to any organisation that is looking to for an innovative and progressive step change to their business delivery model."