Annual Report - Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

Annual Report 2005/06 

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER 

PARTNERSHIPS 

Annual Report 

2005/06 

SUCCEEDING THROUGH INNOVATION

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is funded by: 

Arts and Humanities Research Council 

(www.ahrc.ac.uk) 

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council 

(www.bbsrc.ac.uk) 

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 

(www.defra.gov.uk) 

Department of Health 

(www.dh.gov.uk) 

Department of Trade and Industry 

(www.dti.gov.uk) 

Economic & Social Research Council 

(www.esrc.ac.uk) 

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 

(www.epsrc.ac.uk) 

European Social Fund 

(www.esf.gov.uk) 

Invest Northern Ireland 

(www.investni.com) 

Natural Environment Research Council 

(www.nerc.ac.uk) 

The Northern Way 

(www.thenorthernway.co.uk) 

One NorthEast 

(www.onenortheast.co.uk) 

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council 

(www.pparc.ac.uk) 

Scottish Executive 

(www.scotland.gov.uk) 

Seeda 

(www.seeda.co.uk) 

Welsh Assembly Government 

(www.wales.gov.uk)

Contents 

Celebrating 30 years of KTP 

Foreword ........................................................................................................................................ 2 

Introduction to Knowledge Transfer Partnerships ......................................................... 4 

Highlights of the year ................................................................................................................ 6 

Focus on enhanced efficiency through strengthened regional teams ................... 8 

The National Forum ................................................................................................................. 10 

The 2005 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards .................................................. 11 

Winner of the award for best Knowledge Transfer Partnership ............................. 12 

Winner of the award for Engineering Excellence ......................................................... 14 

Number of Partnerships ......................................................................................................... 16 

Financial commitment by Sponsor .................................................................................... 17 

Improving Outcomes ............................................................................................................... 18 

Participating Knowledge Base Institutions ...................................................................... 23 

Participating Associates ......................................................................................................... 27 

Strategic planning ..................................................................................................................... 31 

Looking forward ........................................................................................................................ 32 

Case studies ................................................................................................................................ 33 

Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 35 

Further Information .................................................................................................................. 36 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Annual Report 2005/06 1

Annual Report 

Foreword 

Lord David Sainsbury of 

Turville, Parliamentary 

Under Secretary of State 

for Science and Innovation 

2 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Annual Report 2005/06 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) and its 

predecessor the Teaching Company Scheme 

(TCS) is based on a simple idea, win, win, win. 

Win for the business through knowledge 

acquisition to enable it to compete with new 

products, processes and markets. Win for the 

academic whose research is applied in business 

and new research ideas stimulated. Win for the 

recently qualified individual, the KTP Associate, 

whose project enables the company to make 

effective use of the knowledge it was seeking 

whilst they develop their own 

management/technical capabilities in a 

supported environment. There is a fourth win; 

that is the benefit these wins bring to the UK as 

a whole. We celebrated the 30th anniversary of 

the programme in both its forms because it 

delivers successful outcomes. 

This annual report highlights the broad range of 

activity that has occurred during 2005/06; KTP is 

now delivering over one thousand live Partnerships 

at any one time, 15 government organisations now 

contribute to it. KTP has broadened its remit from 

the physical and social sciences to the creative 

“ AHRC is delighted to have been able to increase the range of expertise now 

available to UK organisations through its sponsorship of KTPs. 

Arts and humanities subjects can offer innovative solutions and have a particularly 

strong relationship supporting sectors such as the creative and cultural industries. 

We've been very pleased with the enthusiastic response from the sector, with a wide 

range of companies and researchers developing imaginative projects using expertise 

in fields such as art and design, music, drama, English literature, history, media 

studies and modern languages. KTPs are also enabling researchers and universities 

leverage the value of their research in real life applications and to recognise the 

benefits that taking part in KTPs offers to the research base. 

” 

Kezia Parry, Knowledge Transfer Programme Manager, AHRC.

arts, leisure and tourism - ensuring that our 

portfolio of partnerships matches the social, 

technological and economic priorities of the UK. 

Most significantly, our metrics are showing 

upward trends in almost every aspect. For 

every £1 million of Government spend the 

number of jobs created has increased from 77 

(2004/05) to 112 in 2005/06, for business the 

annual increase in profit before tax from 

£3.3 million to £4.24 million, the investment in 

plant and machinery needed by company 

partners from £1.54 million to £3.25 million. 

Significantly, this year 82% of KTPs have plans 

for further collaboration against 66% in the 

previous year. 

This year we have piloted some new and 

exciting ways of using KTP to work with 

overseas organisations, such as Westlink and 

the Ontario Centres of Excellence based in 

Canada. And we have initiated a collaboration 

with the Kauffman Fellowship Program in 

Kansas City, whereby two “KTP Associates” will 

be working in two of our leading Venture Capital 

firms for two years, helping them understand 


some emerging business areas in order to help 

the developing businesses in these areas. I look 

forward to learning the outcomes from this pilot. 

The success story of KTP is due to the broad 

community it serves and I pay tribute to those 

individuals who participate. The academics who 

reach out to business offering their knowledge 

and expertise; the participating firms whose 

senior management understands the strategic 

importance of innovation; and the KTP 

Associates who are the linchpin to a partnership 

success, often changing the culture within their 

host business. Many become business leaders 

in their own right. 

Time after time KTP demonstrates this win, win, 

win through what is believed to be a unique 

knowledge transfer initiative. 

“ The Northern Way decided to invest in a pan-Northern KTP programme because 

of its potential to contribute to the closing of the wealth and health gap with the rest 

of the UK. To drive up value added and productivity, businesses must innovate. 

Smaller firms in particular may not know how, or may lack the staff to take a project 

forward. KTPs offer a proven means of overcoming both of these barriers, and also 

contribute to increase graduate employment in SMEs. Our particular sponsorship 

concerns public health, so a number of the recipients are public sector as well. 

Furthermore, in order to ensure benefits to the whole of the North of England, we 

require that results are disemminated across all of the North’. 

” 

David Sanderson, Innovation Lead, Northern Way. 


Introduction to Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 

About Knowledge Transfer 

Partnerships 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is Europe’s 

leading programme helping businesses to improve 

their competitiveness and productivity through the 

better use of knowledge, technology and skills that 

reside within the UK knowledge base. 

Each Partnership employs one or more high 

calibre Associates (recently qualified people), 

transferring the knowledge the company is 

seeking into the business. Each Associate 

works in the company on a project, which is 

core to the strategic development of the 

business. 

Through contact with businesses, the 

knowledge base partner (academic institution) is 

also provided with relevant and improved 

understanding of the challenges companies 

encounter, which in turn stimulates business 

relevant teaching materials and new research 

themes. 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is a UK-wide 

programme funded by 15 Government 

organisations led by the Department of Trade 

and Industry (DTI). Each Partnership is partfunded 

by the Government with the balance of 

the costs coming from the company partner. 


The flexibility of Knowledge 

Transfer Partnerships 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is intentionally 

flexible in delivery, allowing: 

• projects to vary in length between 12 and 36 

months 

• knowledge base partners to include Further 

Education Institutions (teaching at least the 

equivalent of NVQ Level 4) as well as Higher 

Education Institutions, Research and 

Technology Organisations and Public Sector 

Research Institutes 

• Associates to be either post-graduate 

researchers, university graduates, or 

individuals recently qualified to at least NVQ 

(Level 4) or equivalent. 

Benefits for the Associate 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships can help 

Associates enhance their career prospects by 

providing them with the opportunity to manage a 

challenging project central to a company’s strategic 

development and long-term growth, as well as 

offering top class training and development in 

business management and leadership skills. 

• Over 75% of Associates are offered 

employment by their host company on 

completion of their project and overall 60% 

accept. 

“ A glance through this Annual Report will reveal that KTP brings 

enormous benefits to its participants, whether firms, Associates or academics. 

Our aim is to continue that work in partnership with an increasing number of 

sponsors and a broadening of the topics that we cover. 

” 

Dr Ian Harrison, Knowledge Transfer Services Directorate (now retired).

Benefits for the knowledge base 

Through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, 

academics are able to: 

• develop business-relevant teaching materials 

• identify new research themes and undergraduate 

and post-graduate projects 

• publish high quality research papers 

• contribute to the Research Assessment 

Exercise (RAE) and rating of their 

department. 

Benefits for the company partner 

Business performance outputs vary considerably 

from case to case, given the rich variety of 

projects. 


Latest information shows that, on average, the 

business benefits that can be expected from a 

single KTP project are: 

• an increase of over £290,000 in annual profits 

before tax 

• creation of eight genuine new jobs 

• an increase in the skills of existing staff. 

Put another way, for every £1 million of 

Government investment in Knowledge Transfer 

Partnerships, the benefits achieved by UK 

businesses amount to: 

• £4.2 million increase in annual profits before tax 

• the creation of 112 genuine new jobs 

• 214 company staff trained. 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships’ mission 

To strengthen the competitiveness, wealth 

creation and economic performance of the 

UK by the enhancement of knowledge and 

skills and the stimulation of innovation 

through collaborative projects between 

business and the knowledge base. 

The objectives of Knowledge Transfer 

Partnerships are to: 

• facilitate the transfer of knowledge and the 

spread of technical and business skills, 

through innovation projects undertaken by 

high calibre, recently qualified people under 

the joint supervision of personnel from 

business and the knowledge base 

• provide company-based training for 

recently qualified people in order to 

enhance their business and specialist skills 

• stimulate and enhance business-relevant 

training and research undertaken by the 

knowledge base 

• increase the extent of interactions of 

businesses with the knowledge base and 

their awareness about the contribution that 

the knowledge base can make to business 

development and growth. 

In a recent DTI review, Knowledge Transfer 

Partnerships emerged as one of the most 

successful knowledge transfer mechanisms 

that the Government offers to UK businesses. 

Each Partnership brings business benefits, 

skills and knowledge to industry, graduates 

and academics across the UK. 


Highlights of the year 

30 years of success 

This year, KTP celebrated its 30-year 

anniversary at an awards event held at 

the Savoy Hotel in London. The event 

was attended by Sir Sam Edwards who, 

along with Sir Ieuan Maddock, set up the 

Teaching Company Scheme back in 1975. 

Financial year 2005/6 was one of substantial 

progress and change in the KTP 

Programme. Key developments included: 

• Fundamental revision and streamlining of 

the Partnership proposal, application and 

approval processes; 

• Thorough review and revision of the 

Partnership assessment and grading 

process; 

• Launch of the first KTP Guidebook and 

associated Newsletter as a way of 

communicating policy changes, 

guidelines and information to key 

stakeholders; 

• Implementation of full economic costing 

for Partnerships involving Higher 

Education Institutions; 

• Launch to stakeholders of an electronic 

marketing toolkit, portfolio of case 

studies and regular electronic newsletter 

(E-Transfer), all conforming to a new KTP 

identity; 

• Recruitment to further enhance the 

regional delivery teams; 

• Redesign and re-engineering of the IT 

systems at the heart of the KTP 

Programme. 


Three new Sponsors joined the programme: 

The Arts and Humanities Research Council 

(AHRC), South East England Development 

Agency (SEEDA) and The Northern Way. 

Over £36.5 million of grant support was 

committed to new Partnerships in 2005/06, an 

increase of 14% over the previous year, 

augmented by over £54.7 million from 

participating companies, an increase of around 

4% from 2004/05. This increase resulted 

largely from the use of European Social Fund 

matched funding which allowed an additional 

140 Partnerships to be approved. 

The total number of Partnerships in the portfolio 

increased by 17% from 858 to 1,002 during the 

course of the year, and the total number of 

projects from 958 to 1,114. 

Dr Ian Harrison, Sir Sam Edwards, Dr Debbie 

Buckley-Golder. 

Over the past 30 years, the Knowledge Transfer 

Partnerships Scheme, and its predecessor, the 

Teaching Company Scheme, have given British 

firms new opportunities. Many people have 

helped to make the scheme such a success over 

the past 30 years, including Dr Ian Harrison, Sir 

Sam Edwards and KTP Programme Director 

Dr Debbie Buckley-Golder.

Fig 1 Total number of Partnerships in the 

Portfolio (2002 - 2006). 

Number of Partnerships 

1,200 

1,000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

909 903 

852 

858 

1,002 

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 

Year 

2004/05 2005/06 

Participation by Further Education Institutions 

increased by 80% during 2005/06 to 29 

Partnerships, representing a tripling in the 

number of Partnerships during the course of the 

last three years. In addition, at the year-end 

there were 13 Partnerships with healthcare 


organisations and six with educational 

organisations, each supported by ESRC funding. 

Much was done to support each Associate’s 

development as a Manager. During the year 99 

Associates attained the NVQ (Level 4) in 

Management. Their value was recognised with 

60% of Associates remaining in the 

employment of the company partner on project 

completion. In addition, 61% of completed 

Partnerships were independently graded 

‘excellent’ or ‘very good’, a statistic that has 

progressively increased over the past five years. 

Table 1 shows the grading given by Assessors 

to Partnerships completed since 2001/02. Over 

the five-year period an average of 55% of 

Partnerships were graded one or two (that is, 

were regarded by the Assessors as either 

‘excellent’ or ‘very good’). In 2005/06, for those 

graded, this increased to 61% although a higher 

proportion than previously were graded two. 

Year 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 

No of Completed Partnerships 261 294 390 374 284* 

Graded 1 (High) 7 8 7 6 6 

2 45 44 46 50 55 

3 25 25 25 27 20 

4 9 8 12 9 9 

5 10 8 8 6 5 

6 (Low) 4 7 2 2 5 

Total (%) 100 100 100 100 100 

Table 1 Percentages of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships completed since March 2001 by grading. 

* These percentages are based on 122 of the 284 Partnerships completed in 2005/06, which had been graded at the year-end 

For every £1 million of Government funding spent on KTP, average benefits to 

company participants amounted to £4.24 million increase in annual profit before 

tax and £3.25 million investment in plant and machinery, with 112 new jobs 

created and 214 company staff trained. 


Focus on enhanced efficiency through 

strengthened regional teams 

2005/06 was the first full year during which 

Momenta, an operating division of AEA 

Technology plc, was the managing agent for 

the KTP programme. The delivery team, 

based in Harwell, Oxfordshire, works with a 

comprehensive regional team made up of 

Regional Development Managers (RDM’s) 

and Advisers. 

The key focus for the delivery team has been to 

further improve efficiency and to strengthen 

regional support. Recruitment to the team of 

Advisers allowed for restructuring in order to 

respond to regional priorities and the objectives 

of new, regional sponsors. Sadly, one of the 

Adviser positions became available as a result of 

the sudden death of the Senior Adviser for the 

South West, Barry Twite, who was a valued 

colleague and contributor to the team. 

The team of Regional Development Managers 

was also enhanced with the recruitment of an 

additional member located in the North of 

England, this bringing the team to five. A key 

focus for the Regional Development Managers 

has been to increase engagement with the 

Further Education community across the 

country. 

Bob Astley 


North 

North 

North 

West 

South West 

& Wales 

East 

South East 

& London 

Bob Astley has rejoined KTP as a Regional Adviser for North West England. Bob’s name may be 

familiar as he previously worked on the KTP programme. Bob’s experience is gained from working 

for a large manufacturing company and at the University of Birmingham. 

Idris Price 

Fig 2 Regions split by RDM. 

Idris Price has joined KTP as the Regional Adviser for North Wales. He has a background in 

electronics engineering and was previously Managing Director of an Electronics company. He has 

been involved in several EU-funded education and training projects, working with project partners 

from other European countries.

Regional Delivery Teams 

North Group 

Devolved Administration: Scottish Executive and 

Invest Northern Ireland 

RDM: Alan Hendry 

North West Group 

RDA: North West Development Agency and 

Advantage West Midlands 

RDM: Nick Ward 

East Group 

RDA: One North East, Yorkshire Forward and 

East Midland Development Agency 

RDM: Paul Rosen 

South West & Wales 

Devolved Administration and RDA: Welsh 

Assembly Government and South West of 

England Development Agency 

RDM: Dr Alexandra Humphris-Bach 

South East & London 

RDA: South East England Development Agency, 

East of England Development Agency and 

London Development Agency 

RDM: Wendy Mannix 

Nick Ward 

Nick’s experience includes 26 years with a High Street retail 

organisation, originally supporting mainframe computer systems, later 

running their head office facilities. Since then, Nick has engaged with 

promoting resource efficiency and waste minimisation for 

consultancies, and also managed a public / private business 

regeneration partnership for 3 years. In his spare time, Nick is 

studying for an MA in ‘Contemporary Urban Renaissance’. 


Dr Gerry Black – Senior Adviser 

Mr Neil Duncan Mr Ken Frame 

Mr Tony Mitchell Mr William Morris 

Mrs Fiona Nightingale – Senior Adviser 

Dr David Britton Dr Russ Bromley 

Ms Jose Freedman Mr Phillip Ternouth 

Mr Bob Astley 

Mr Richard Parker-Smith – Senior Adviser 

Mr John Clayton Mr Andrew Darwent 

Ms Philippa Ryan Mr Mike Willis 

Mr James Best – Senior Adviser 

Dr Ted Jones Mr Howard Nicholls 

Dr Gillian Rysiecki Dr Dave Pippard 

Mr Idris Price (joined June 2006) 

Dr Paul Naylor – Senior Adviser 

Dr Martin Fakley Mr Doug Irish 

Mr Maurice Jones Dr Ray McKee 

Mrs Jan Stringer Mr Brian Cannan 

Mrs Jan Dobson Dr Terry Corner 

(joined June 2006) (joined August 2006) 


The National Forum 

The KTP National Forum was formed by the 

KTP Manager community to give itself a 

national voice. The forum provides a 

mechanism for university based KTP Offices 

and centres to enhance communications with 

Momenta and the DTI, and to lobby and 

influence on behalf of its members. 


The meetings perform the useful function of 

enabling discussion and resolution of operational 

issues. The committee also allows the 

tremendous experience of the KTP Manager 

community to be focussed on strategic matters 

of longer term importance to KTP. It forms a 

national focus for KTP at the practitioner level, 

and helps raise the profile of KTP. 

Top row left to right - Melanie Powell, Robin Brown, Susan Thomson, Paul Thomas, Steven Hardy, 

Martin May. Bottom row left to right - Val Wooff, Linda Hyder, Bob Howlett, Emma Hewitt, Phil Fiddaman 

(other members not pictured are Kate Darby, Mary Flynn and Susan Semple). 

“ Since we put the National Forum structure in place two years ago, it has proved 

very effective. The National Forum Committee meetings enable stakeholders at the 

operational level of KTP to get round the table together. The presence of Momenta's 

Martin Webb at the meetings often helps us to resolve day-to-day issues before they 

get out of hand. Representation on the DTI KTP Management Board by myself or 

another National Forum Committee member allows us to contribute to top level DTI 

thinking on KTP. The National Forum has proved so useful that I wonder whether we 

should consider parallel structures for KTP supervisors and Associates. 

” 

Dr Bob Howlett, Chair, KTP National Forum Committee.

The 2005 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 

Awards event was held at the Savoy Hotel, 

London on 28th March 2006. The event 

celebrated and recognised the achievements 

of all participants in the nine winning 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships that had 

been judged as the best of those completed 

in the preceding calendar year, and the six 

winners of the ‘Business Leaders of 

Tomorrow’ Award for current Associates. 

The event also celebrated 30 Years of 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. 

Business Leaders of Tomorrow 

for 2005 

Mark Chadwick, Alternative Group and 

Liverpool John Moores University 

Laura Bishop, Country Valley Foods and 

University of Teeside 

Emmeline Child, Kettering Textiles Ltd and 

University College Northampton 

Cameron Fraser, Caledonian Aerotech and 

Heriot-Watt University 

Katja Krebs, Zeina Foods and University of 

Huddersfield 

Ross Grazey, siGEN and 

Robert Gordon University 


The 2005 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards 

Winning Partnerships for 2005 

Best Knowledge Transfer Partnership 

for 2005 

The University of York and Authentix Limited 

Award for Engineering Excellence 

University of Exeter and C.H. Medical Ltd 

Best Application of Social Science or 

Management 

University of the West of England, Bristol 

and North Bristol NHS Trust 

Award-Winning Partnerships 

• Coventry University and Elekta Ltd 

• Sheffield Hallam University and 

Inditherm PLC 

• Kingston University and Lerch, Bates & 

Associates Limited (The FM Company) 

• Napier University and Oregon Timber 

Frame Limited 

• University of Durham and Pressed Steel 

Products Ltd (PSP) 

• University of Reading and Solar Century 

Holdings Limited 

Business Leaders 

of Tomorrow 

Award winners 

(L to R), 

Mark Chadwick, 

Laura Bishop, 

Emmeline Child, 

Cameron Fraser, 

Katja Krebs, 

Ross Grazey. 


Winner of the Award for Best 

Knowledge Transfer Partnership 

AUTHENTIX LIMITED, York with THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK, 

Department of Chemistry Sponsored by DTI 

Aim: To develop a prototype test 

system for detection of markers in 

fuels based on microfabrication 

technology, electroseparations and 

solid state optical detection. 

This KTP developed a novel method for 

detecting levels of security markers in fuels 

using a rapid, automated and reliable test that 

can be carried out in the field. Illicit trading of 

fuel is a global problem, costing governments 

and industry billions of pounds annually in lost 

tax revenues and sales. 

(L to R), Mr Ian Eastwood, Company Director, Professor David Goodall, Academic Supervisor, Dr Ian 

Harrison, Knowledge Transfer Services Directorate (now retired), Dr Mohammed Al Jafari, Associate 

and Mr Erwin Dorland, Industrial Supervisor. 

“ The KTP programme... demonstrates to our customers and 

investors that we invest in new technologies and solutions with a 

direct commercial driver. 

” 

12 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Annual Report 2005/06

Whilst current technology allows fuel testing to 

be conducted in the laboratory, a rapid field test 

would reduce costs and increase market 

accessibility. 

Company benefits 

The KTP project and the IP generated (two 

patents filed and one in preparation) 

demonstrate to customers that the company 

invests in new technologies and solutions with a 

direct commercial driver. The success of the 

first project has led to the company investing in 

a follow-on KTP project with two Associates and 

aims to commit more funds in knowledge 

enhancement. The development of the novel 

reader for security inks has enabled the 

company to secure two contracts worth several 

million dollars. 

Academic benefits 

The concepts and techniques investigated have 

resulted in the initiation of exciting new research 

programmes. Good practice in project 

management gained through this partnership 

has benefited the analytical science research 

group. The work has helped promote the 

University of York as a dynamic centre for 

industrial collaboration and a place to conduct 

highly relevant research into problems from the 

real world. The Partnership has contributed to 

the development of staff at the university by 

allowing them to focus on new science and 

technology that is at the cutting edge of 

instrumentation development and commercially 

relevant. 


KTP Associate Dr Mohammed Al-Jafari 

presenting at the this years KTP Awards. 

Associate benefits 

With the experience, skills, and confidence 

developed during the KTP project, Dr Al-Jafari 

has been able to progress his career at an 

exceptional rate since completion of the project 

and returning to his home country of Jordan in 

January 2005. He set up Duna Rayb Commercial 

Establishment in January, with the goal of 

bringing expertise in the field of product 

authentication into the region. In February, Dr Al- 

Jafari was invited back to the UK as a consultant 

to Authentix to help the company start the new 

KTP project following on from his own work. 


Winner of the Award for Engineering Excellence 

C.H. MEDICAL LTD, Exeter with UNIVERSITY OF EXETER, 

Department of Engineering Sponsored by EPSRC 

Aim: To increase the company’s sales 

turnover, exports and profits by 

improving the design and 

performance of its unique Mennen 

orthopaedic bone plates. 


The partnership has achieved an improved 

orthopaedic bone plate, which is 150% stronger 

than its predecessor and a patent application 

has been submitted for the new, novel design. 

The company has established in-house 

bioengineering expertise with R&D capability, 

ensuring regulatory approval of the new implant, 

which is now CE marked. Two further new 

products are currently being developed. 

C.H. Medical Ltd, Exeter and the University of Exeter, Department of Engineering being presented with their 

Award. (L to R) Mr Christos Pappas, Associate, Dr Ian Harrison, Knowledge Transfer Services Directorate 

(now retired), Ms Shamala Govindasamy, University of Exeter, Mr Chris Harrod, Academic Supervisor. 

“ The company has established an R&D capability and two 

additional implant products are currently being developed, which 

will positively further increase sales and profit. 

”

Company benefits 

The KTP partnership has resulted in a 

significantly improved implant for bone fracture 

fixation with additional uses, accompanied with 

the technological data required for successful 

marketing worldwide. Sales of the new plate 

have increased the company’s market share 

from 5% to 11.6%. Sales turnover has 

increased by 111%, exports by 109% and profit 

by 476%. The new structured approach to R&D 

has enabled the company to enhance its quality 

management systems certification to the 

highest levels, ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 

13485:2003. 

Academic benefits 

The framework of the partnership and the 

results achieved have clearly focused the 

importance of industrial input at each stage of 

R&D. Eight undergraduate and postgraduate 

projects have already been spun-off, providing 

valuable industrial exposure to the students. The 

five papers already presented at international 

conferences and the two papers submitted for 

journal publication all help to raise the profile of 

the Engineering Department, nationally and 

internationally, in the field of medical devices 

research. The success of the project has 

attracted a further NPL grant aided project 

involving both partners. 


KTP Associate Mr Christos Pappas demonstrating 

the improved orthopaedic bone plate at the KTP 

Awards exhibition. 

Associate benefits 

Christos Pappas has increased his knowledge 

and understanding of engineering principles and 

improved his technical skills and capabilities. Full 

involvement in all the relevant company 

functions (manufacturing, regulatory, financial, 

market research and marketing) provided 

invaluable experience and illustrated the 

importance and interdependence of each 

function in the process of developing a new 

product and bringing it to market. A PhD from 

the University of Exeter and an NVQ Level 4 in 

Management from the Chartered Institute of 

Management, together with the acquired skills, 

will lead to Chartered Engineer status. 



During the year, 587 new proposals for 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships were 

submitted to the Partnerships Approvals 

Group and 498 (85%) were supported or 

conditionally supported. This compares with 

506 proposals considered and 457 (90%) 

supported or conditionally supported in 

2004/05. In all, during the year beginning 


April 2005, grant offer letters were despatched 

on behalf of the Sponsors to establish 487 

new Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, an 

increase of 15% on the previous year. 

A total of 284 Partnerships finished during the 

year, compared with 374, which ended in 

2003/04. 

Fig 3 Geographic distribution of companies participating in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (2002 - 2006). 

March 2002 

UK total 909 

March 2003 

UK total 903 

March 2004 

UK total 852 

858 


in portfolio 

at 1 April 

2005 

+ 

487 

Offer letters 

despatched 

53 (6%) 

113 (13%) 

76 (8%) 

667 (73%) 

45 (5%) 

125 (14%) 

70 (8%) 

663 (73%) 

52 (6%) 

107 (13%) 

63 (7%) 

630 (74%) 

59 


not 

established 

March 2005 

UK total 858 

March 2006 

UK total 1002 

Changes in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships portfolio 2005/06. 

Northern Ireland 

Scotland 

284 

– – = 


completed 

or ceased 

in year 

Wales 

England 

52 (6%) 

95 (11%) 

75 (9%) 

636 (74%) 

62 (6%) 

106 (11%) 

97 (10%) 

737 (73%) 

1002 


at 31 March 

2006

Financial commitment by Sponsor 

The total value of grants committed to new 

Partnerships was £36.5 million, which 

represents an increase of £4.5 million or 14% 

from 2004/05. In addition, over £54.7 million 

was committed by the participating 

companies in the form of cash funding for 

academic partners, Associate salaries and 

investments required to support the full 

implementation and exploitation of the 

Partnerships. This was over and above the 

commitment of Government grants and 

represents an increase of £2 million, or 4%, 

on the previous year. An outline of the 

financial commitments by Sponsors is 

provided in Table 2. 

Duration of projects 

Greater flexibility has been introduced into the 

Programme over recent years, to allow Projects 

of between 12 and 36 months' duration, with 

particular emphasis on growing numbers of 12month 

Partnerships involving Further Education 

Colleges as the Knowledge Base Partner. 

Table 3 shows the distribution according to the 

duration of Projects which were established 

during 2005/06. 


Sponsor Actual Expenditure (£k) 

BBSRC 46 

DEFRA 713 

DH (inc NHSSW) 72 

DTI 19,266 

DTI/ESF* 1,916 

EPSRC 1,400 

EPSRC-CTA** 20 

ESRC 1,149 

Invest NI 843 

NERC 34 

One NorthEast 7 

PPARC 14 

SE 592 

WAG 779 

Total 26,851 

Table 2 Budgeted and actual expenditure levels 

for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships in 2005/06 

by Sponsor. 

* The figure for DTI/ESF expenditure is the total amount 

claimed by Projects. Approximately 45% [£862k] of this 

amount is recoverable from EU ESF funding. 

** EPSRC-CTA expenditure is that portion of KTP Project costs 

covered by this element and paid to HEIs as part of the 

EPSRC Collaborative Training Account award. The cofunding 

element is included within the appropriate Sponsor 

expenditure figures. 

Up to 23 months 24 months 25-36 months Total 

Number of 

Associate places 

56 (17) 362 (345) 114 (98) 532 (460) 

Proportion of portfolio (%) 11% (4%) 68% (75%) 21% (21%) 100% (100%) 

Table 3 Duration of projects on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships established 2005/06 (figures for 

2004/05 are shown in brackets). 

“ Elekta’s competitive position has improved significantly - we 

are able to target specific market segments not previously 

accessible. 

” 

Elekta Limited. 


Improving outcomes 

Upon completion of each Partnership, the 

participants prepare a final report, which is 

reviewed by two members of an independent 

grading panel*. The reported outcomes that 

follow are taken from these final reports. The 

panel grades each Partnership on a scale of 1 

to 6, taking into account the success of the 

relationship between the participants as well 

as the tangible outcomes of the projects. 

Participating Companies 

Final Reports from Partnerships indicated that, 

as a result of participation in Knowledge 

Transfer Partnerships, companies achieved 

increased profitability through the changes 

summarised in Fig 4. Within every category an 

increasing proportion of companies has reported 

improvements each year since 2003/04 (apart 

from Improved Quality where a similar 

proportion reported in the latter two years). A 

summary of benefits from participation is given 

in Table 4. 

In 84% of cases it was reported by the 

participants that the results achieved would be 

significant to the future performance of the 

company concerned; this compares with a 

similar figure (81%) in 2004/05. Almost all of the 

knowledge base partners reported that they had 

benefited highly from participating in the 

Partnerships; 91% benefiting through staff 

development (93% in the previous year), 86% 

reporting benefits to research (previously 88%) 

and 89% reporting benefits to teaching 

(previously 85%). 

*Details of the Independent Grading Panel can be found in the Appendix on page 35. 


Fig 4 Reasons given by companies for increased 

profitability from Partnerships in Knowledge 

Transfer Partnerships graded between 2003 - 2006. 

51% 

43% 

55% 

47% 

58% 

47% 

2003/04 

2004/05 

2005/06 

54% 

61% 

57% 

62% 

60% 

66% 

New Markets 

Increased Sales 

Improved Quality Improved Operations 

Companies could identify more than one reason

The highest one-off increase in profit before tax 

was £4.0 million. The highest annual increase in 

profit before tax after Partnership completion 

was £24 million. The highest reported 

investment in plant and machinery was 

£13 million. 

The one-off increase in profit before tax, the 

annual increase in profit before tax after 

Partnership Completion and the investment in 

plant and machinery vary considerably across 

Partnerships, as indicated in Fig 5. However, the 

pattern observed is very similar to previous years. 


2004/05 2005/06 

One-off Increase in Profit Before Tax £49,909 (highest £1.7m) £77,567 (highest £4.0m) 

Annual Increase in Profit Before Tax 

after Partnership’s Completion 

£227,350 (highest £20m) £291,135 (highest £24m) 

Investment in Plant and Machinery 105,862 (highest £7m) £223,465 (highest £13m) 

Number of New Research 

Projects Initiated 

3.2 4 

Number of Research Papers 

Published in Refereed Journals 

1 1 

Number of Other Articles Published 1 1 

Intellectual Property Agreement 

Between Partners 

67% 77% 

Expect Commercial Benefit from 

Application of Intellectual Property 

24% 24% 

Plans for Further Collaboration 66% 82% 

Table 4 Effects of participation in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships on companies and knowledge base 

organisations per Associate Project (Average benefits from Partnership Final Reports graded 2004/05 

and 2005/06). 

Fig 5 Variations in information provided in KTP 

Final Reports graded 2005/06. 


250 

200 

150 

100 

50 

0 

Up to 

£50,000 

£51,000 - 

£150,000 

Range 

£151,000 - 

£500,000 

One-off increase in profit before tax 

Annual increase in profit before tax 

Investment in plant and machinery 

Over 

£500,000 


Benefits for companies from each 

£1 million of Government 

expenditure 

During the year 403 new Partnerships were 

established with SMEs (compared with 365 the 

previous year) and 84 with large companies 

(compared with 60 in 2004/05). Information on 

the overall portfolio of Partnerships at the end of 

the year by company size is given in Table 5. 

Overall, the proportion of Partnerships fig 8with 

large 

companies increased by 3% to 16%, with 

corresponding 1% reductions for micro, small 

and medium-sized companies, although the 

number of Partnerships with companies in each 

of the size groups increased during the course 

of the year. 

Fig 6 Comparison of numbers of jobs created 

within companies over four years. 

Number of jobs created 

Number of company staff trained 

120 

100 

80 

60 

40 

20 

70 

62 

fig 9 

65 

fig 7 

77 

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 

Year 

2004/05 2005/06 

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 

Fig 7 Comparison of numbers Year of company staff 

trained over four years. 

350 

300 

345 

Micro- Small Medium-sized Large Total 

250 

259 

businesses 

(less 263 than 

Enterprises 

(10 - 49 

Enterprises 

(50 - 249 

Enterprises 

(250 or more 

200 

10 employees) employees) 

214 

employees) employees) 


150 

Proportion of Portfolio 

161 

(%) 

131 

13% 

438 

44% 

274 

27% 

159 

16% 

1002 

100% 

Number 100 of Associate Places 133 473 314 194 1114 

Proportion 50 of Portfolio (%) 12% 43% 500 28% 17% 100% 

Table 05 

Knowledge Transfer 400 

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 fig 

Partnership 

10 

Portfolio by Size of Enterprise (March 2006). 

2004/05 2005/06 

Year 

300 

112 

100 


0 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 

Number of jobs created 

Number of company staff trained 

Benefits for companies 

(£ millions) 


120 

100 

80 

60 

40 

20 

350 

300 

250 

200 

150 

100 

50 

0 

4.5 

4.0 

3.5 

3.0 

2.5 

2.0 

1.5 

1.0 

0.5 

0 

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 

Year 

200 

70 

345 

62 

161 

65 

259 

77 

263 

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 

Year 

Fig 8 Profit and investment benefits to 

companies over four years. 

2004/05 2005/06 




112 

214 

2005/06

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 

Year 

2004/05 2005/06 




Fig 9 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships portfolio 

by size of enterprise 2001 - 2005. 


500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

2001 2002 2003 2004 

Year 

2005 

2006 

Micro businesses (fewer than 10 employees) 

Small enterprises (10 - 49 employees) 

Medium-sized enterprises (50 - 249 employees) 

Large enterprises (250 or more employees) 


Industrial Sector March 02 March 03 March 04 March 05 March 06 

No (%) No (%) No (%) No (%) No (%) 

Aerospace 8 (1) 9 (1) 7 (

“ The KTP Associate provided the company with a focus for 

research, development and innovation... we got clarity and 

projects started to happen. Getting involved with KTP ... had the 

effect of broadening our horizons and I have no doubt it will 

help us enter new markets. 

” 

Hugh Stewart, Chairman, Caledonian Alloys Ltd. 


At the end of the year, 447 departments from 

104 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were 

involved in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, 

an increase of 33 departments and four 

Institutions from the previous year. In 

addition, the number of Further Education 

Institutions (FEIs) participating more than 

doubled, to nine, with five knowledge base 

organisations which were neither HEIs nor 

FEIs also participating (compared with three 

the previous year). Thus, altogether there 

were 118 knowledge base organisations 

taking part, an increase of 10% from the 

previous year. 


Participating Knowledge Base Institutions 

The subject range of the departments is 

illustrated in Table 7, which also shows figures 

for the previous four years and records the non- 

HEI and non-FEI organisations in the ‘other’ 

category. The percentage of 5 and 5* HEI 

departments participating in new Partnerships in 

March 06 was 33%, an increase from 29% in 

the previous two years. 

Academic % of 909 % of 903 % of 852 % of 858 % of 1002 

Department Partnerships Partnerships Partnerships Partnerships Partnerships 

(Mar 02) (Mar 03) (Mar 04) (Mar 05) (Mar 06) 

Agriculture & Food 6 5 5 2 2 

Biology 2 3 3 3 3 

Chemical Engineering 2 2 2 1 1 

Chemistry 2 2 3 3 3 

Civil Engineering 2 3 3 3 3 

Computing 19 19 16 14 16 

Design 4 4 3 5 6 

Electrical Engineering 6 5 4 4 4 

Engineering & Technology 12 13 16 21 21 

Management 16 19 24 24 21 

Material Technology 2 2 1 2 1 

Mathematics 1 1 1 1

Knowledge Base Partner Company Partner No of Length of 

Associates Project 

(Months) 

Belfast Institute of Further Bite Snack Foods Limited 1 18 

& Higher Education 

Belfast Institute of Further Image Zoo NI Limited 1 18 


Belfast Institute of Further MO Team Limited 1 18 


Coleg Menai, Bangor Cwmni Tref Caernarfon Cyf 1 18 

Coleg Morganwg T B Davies (Cardiff) Limited 1 24 

Doncaster College MyKnowledgeMap Limited 1 18 

Doncaster College Thorn Hinton Limited 1 18 

Gorseinon College Birchfield Interactive plc 1 18 

Gorseinon College BJ Group Limited 1 24 

Gorseinon College Business Systems Services (UK) Ltd 1 24 

Gorseinon College Business Systems Services (UK) Ltd 1 18 

1 24 

Gorseinon College Castell Howell Foods Limited 1 24 

Gorseinon College Clynderwen and Cardiganshire 1 36 

Farmers Limited 

Gorseinon College DataStart (Wales) Limited 1 18 

Gorseinon College Dezrez Services Limited 1 24 

Gorseinon College Dezrez Services Limited 1 24 

Gorseinon College Farsight Security Limited 1 24 

Gorseinon College Gower Business Systems Limited 1 18 

Gorseinon College M4 Broadcasting Limited 1 24 

Gorseinon College SmartData UK Limited 1 18 

Gorseinon College Sporttrain Wales Limited 1 24 

Gorseinon College Sporttrain Wales Limited 2 24 

Gorseinon College Welsh Hockey Union Limited 1 24 

Gorseinon College Wheelies Direct Limited 1 18 

Newcastle College Microtima Limited 1 18 

Newry Institute of Further Pro-Fit Trailers Limited 1 24 

and Higher Education 

North West Institute of Further Global Building Products Limited 1 18 


North West Institute of Further North & West Housing Limited 1 18 


The College Ystrad Mynach Mojo Suspension Hoodoo Limited 1 24 

Total 31 

Table 8 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships with Further Education Institutions (March 2006). 



Knowledge Base Partner Company Partner No of Length of 

Associates Project 

(Months) 

Building Research Establishment Unicorn Products Limited 1 24 

Institute of Grassland & Penhow Nurseries Limited 1 36 

Environmental Research 

Roslin Institute Farm Animal Genetics & Genomics 1 24 

Faraday Partnership Limited 

Roslin Institute Landcatch Natural Selection Limited 1 36 

Smith Institute Indeva Energy Consultants Limited 1 24 

TWI Limited Goodfellow Cambridge Limited 1 24 

TWI Limited Metalysis Limited 1 27 

Total 7 

Table 9 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships with other research organisations, March 2006. 

Research Rating No of No of No of No of No of 

by HEFC in 1997 Partnerships Partnerships Partnerships Partnerships Partnerships 

(March 02) (March 03) (March 04) (March 05) (March 06) 

5* 30 24 28 39 48 

5 36 62 77 81 103 

4 100 98 118 125 125 

3a 91 68 75 85 95 

3b 72 55 38 43 46 

2 80 24 14 14 14 

1 12 1 0 0 0 

0 33 9 11 23 29 

Total 454 341 361 410 460 

Table 10 Number of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 2002-2006 by research ratings of lead academic 

department (this table includes only those Partnerships with HEIs). 

“ A whole new business has been created! ” 

Lerch, Bates & Associates Limited, Winning Partnership, KTP Awards 2005. 


Sawata Sanyal, Business Leader of Tomorrow Award winner 2004. 

“ Sawata’s combination of personal integrity, energy, drive 

and sheer people skills rapidly propelled him through to a 

leadership position in the organisation. 

” 

Company Supervisor at the Rowe Group of Companies, Cornwall. 


Participating Associates 

During 2005/06, 492 new Associates were 

recruited to Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 

and 358 of those held first or upper secondclass 

degrees (see Table 11). This compares 

to 77% of Associates in 2004/05. 

Summary data on the 757 Associates registered 

at the end of March 2006 and corresponding 

groups registered at the end of the previous 

four years are given in Table 12. 


The mean age of Associates at recruitment 

remains at 28 years. The number of female 

Associates has increased by 1% during the year 

and the number of Associates with higher 

degrees has increased by 18% since 2002. 

Discipline Degree Classification 

1 2i 2ii 3 NVQ/HND Other Total % 

Agriculture 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 1 

Business Management 11 25 7 0 0 7 50 10 

Design 12 12 2 0 1 0 27 5 

Engineering 68 58 26 1 4 30 187 38 

Humanities 1 10 2 0 0 2 15 3 

Information Technology 27 32 4 1 3 9 76 16 

Materials/Metallurgy 3 2 2 0 0 0 7 1 

Mathematics 5 3 1 0 0 1 10 2 

Science 19 43 7 0 1 12 82 17 

Other 6 17 7 0 0 4 34 7 

Total 152 206 58 2 9 65 492 100 

% 31 42 12 >1 >1 13 100 

Table 11 Degree qualifications of Associates recruited in 2005/06. 

March 02 March 03 March 04 March 05 March 06 

No of Associates Registered 726 758 634 593 757 

No with Higher Degrees 217 268 237 234 367 

on Recruitment (30%) (35%) (37%) (39%) (48%) 

No Affiliated to Professional 312 331 270 225 266 

Institutions on Recruitment (43%) (44%) (43%) (38%) (35%) 

Mean Age (years) 27.9 28.1 28.2 27.9 28.0 

Female 31% 32% 30% 27% 28% 

Table 12 Associates registered on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 2002 - 2006. 


Region of Nationality No of Associates Registered March 2006 

United Kingdom 520 

India/Pakistan 65 

China 41 

Other Europe 21 

Other Asia 15 

France 13 

Other 12 

Malaysia 10 

Sri Lanka 8 

Germany 7 

Greece 7 

Nigeria 7 

Spain 7 

Other Africa 6 

Australia/New Zealand 6 

North America 4 

Poland 4 

South America 4 

Total 757 

Table 13 Associates registered by region of nationality (March 2006). 

Information on the nationalities of Associates 

registered at the end of March 2006 is 

summarised in Table 13. The largest increase 

has been seen in Associates from India, 

Pakistan and China, which together represented 

14% of the total at the end of 2005/06 

compared to only 10% the previous year. 

Associate Training and 

Development 

During the year, 194 Associates completed the 

full term of their contract. In their Final Report 

76% of Associates indicated that they were 


offered employment with their host company 

and 79% of the offers were accepted. Overall, 

60% of Associates accepted employment in 

their host company. Of the 227 Associates who 

did not possess higher degrees on recruitment 

(from 492 recruited in 2005/06), 47 (21%) 

registered for post-graduate awards based on 

learning achieved during their KTP 

Associateships. In addition 49 recruits holding 

higher degrees registered for further postgraduate 

work. 

“ The KTP proved a superb platform to provide ‘fresh eyes’ on 

opportunities long discussed within the organisation and to kick 

start our NPD activities. 

” 

Solar Century Holdings Limited.

The primary business function for Associates 

registered on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 

is shown in Fig 10. Product development and 

design continues to feature most significantly 

within the portfolio of Partnerships, while a 


marked increase has been seen during 2005/06 

in both research and development (up by 7%) 

and information and communications technology 

(up by 8%) 

Fig 10 Primary business function for Associates registered on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 

2004 - 2006. 

Business management 

Information & 

communications technology 

Manufacturing process 

& operations 

Operations 

Product development 

& design 

Research & development 

Sales & marketing 

Other 

2004/05 

2005/06 

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 

% 


Areas of technology 

The major areas of technology and knowledge 

applied via the Projects current at year end are 

summarised in Table 14. The largest increase of 

Partnerships by area of technology/knowledge 

“ The KTP provided the company with an opportunity to 

raise its profile. ” 

Inditherm Plc. 


can be found within the area of Computing. 

This is followed by the area of Management 

Science. 

Area of Technology % 

2004/05 2005/06 

Advanced Information Technology 6 5 

Agriculture

Strategic planning 

The KTP Management Board, comprising 

representatives from each of the Sponsor 

organisations, sets overall policy for the 

programme. The current and future direction 

of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is set out 

in the Strategic Plan 2004-2007 and agreed by 

the KTP Management Board. It is 

implemented through annual operating 

plans. 

In summary the plan aims to: 

• expand and develop the number of 

organisations sponsoring Knowledge Transfer 


• use the public sector budgets available to 

promote high quality knowledge transfer 

appropriate to the needs of the business 


• build a portfolio of projects that are in tune 

with the social, technological and economic 

priorities of the UK 

• serve a broad cross-section of UK firms, 

regardless of size, and support those projects 

that promote the greatest added value, taking 

into account their impact on all participants 

• work alongside other public sector support 

measures, and aim to provide part of a 

holistic package of business support 

• maintain around 1,100 live projects at any 

one time. 

• continue to improve the efficiency and value 

for money of the management and delivery 

of the scheme 

Winners of the Award for Best Application of Social Science or Management, pictured with David Guy 

from the Economic & Social Research Council. 


Looking forward 

During 2006/07 the KTP Management Board 

intends to publish the 2007 - 2010 Strategic 

Plan for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. 

Our aim will be to enhance the breadth and 

depth of business support on offer, whilst 

maintaining KTP as a world-class Knowledge 

Transfer mechanism. 

For example: 

• Work closely with the English Regional 

Development Agencies to meet the needs of 

regional priority sectors. 

• Build links with 'mini-KTP' initiatives, which 

tend to offer shorter, light-touch 

collaborations between academia and 

industry. 


• To continue the 'Venture Capital' pilot through 

2007, with the aim of helping VC firms to 

strengthen technical domain, depth, breadth 

or global reach. Those KTP Associates 

involved will enrol on the Kauffman Fellows 

Program, the leading global VC training 

program. 

• To offer an international dimension to 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. To identify 

or make UK businesses aware of 

international links and facilitate collaboration 

prior, during and post KTP project. 

The 2005 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards event was held at the Savoy Hotel, London on 28th 

March 2006. The event also celebrated 30 Years of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.

Case studies 

Highland Spring Ltd: 

Productivity and profit 

Fast facts 

• Operational improvements reduced waste and 

increased productivity 

• Three-year £1.65m increase in profits was 

easily achieved in two years through the KTP 

Highland Spring Ltd is the UK’s leading bottled 

water supplier and had already participated in a 

previous KTP. The success of this project 

convinced the company to embark on a second 

programme to develop operations to cope 

effectively with the increased sales. The 

company had invested £6m on new bottling lines 

and needed to maximise the effectiveness of the 

new technology. 

Highland Spring Ltd worked with academics from 

the University of Strathclyde and two Associates 

to improve the effectiveness of the new bottling 

lines by installing a continuous improvement 

culture at the company. 

The first Associate led a £95,000 investment in a 

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 

(SCADA) system to collect data. Measuring 

performance alone cannot drive improvements, 

so the second Associate led the introduction of a 

Continuous Performance Improvement System 

(CoPIS) to help staff interpret the data and tackle 

problems. Staff now have the capability and 

competency to systematically analyse data, 

identify the root causes of problems and 

eliminate them. 


Brace’s Bakery Ltd: Fresh approach 

to new product development leads 

to profit growth 

Fast facts 

• New discipline delivered identifying market 

gaps 

• £1m investment in equipment to develop new 

product categories 

• £200,000 incremental sales and £140,000 

incremental profits before tax 

The family-owned business, Brace’s Bakery Ltd, 

has been in operation since 1980 manufacturing 

ambient food products, including a range of bread 

products, fruit loaves and buns. Brace’s employs 

over 200 people in manufacturing, engineering, 

sales and distribution roles. The company records 

a £17m turnover. 

The aim of this KTP was to introduce a structured 

approach to new product development 

encompassing the full product life-cycle from 

product concept to launch. 

The programme led to the purchase and 

commissioning of a new £1m processing plant 

which optimised the efficiency performance for 

the original product range. The increased capacity 

allowed the programme to develop a new range 

of products at the University of Wales Institute, 

Cardiff’s baking technology department, and 

major retailers on a national basis have now 

accepted this range of products. 


Case studies 

Consarc Design Group Ltd: 

KTP restores innovation 

Fast facts 

• Creation of new company, Stone Conservation 

Services Ltd 

• Profit before tax increased five-fold 

• Associate employed as General Manager of 

the new company 

Consarc Design Group Ltd has operated from its 

base in Belfast for 80 years, providing imaginative 

design solutions that achieve a balance between 

functional and aesthetic requirements. The aim of 

this KTP between Consarc and Queen’s 

University Belfast was to conduct research into 

natural stone weathering, establishing a practical 

database for specification of repairs, new stones 

and surface treatments. 

Consarc is now recognised in Ireland as an 

authoritative source of information on 

conservation issues. As a result of the KTP, the 

first inventory of stone performance in Northern 

Ireland is up and running, with an interactive 

website allowing access to information on listed 

buildings for owners and conservation 

professionals. 

One of the most tangible benefits was the 

creation of Stone Conservation Services Ltd. 

Estimated profits in its current three-year 

business plan are between £60,000 and 

£100,000. 


Unilever: The Unilever package 

Fast facts 

• Established benefits and protocols for 

international design collaboration using the 

internet, and enabled real-time interaction 

between geographically dispersed people 

(virtual design) 

• Pioneered and developed leading edge 

collaboration technology for Unilever global 

packaging projects 

• Enabled a £1.2m increase in corporate profit 

through reduced time to market, reduction in 

travel and enhancement in packaging quality 

Global brand leader Unilever engaged the services 

of designers and engineers from the School of 

Mechanical Engineering and the Keyworth Institute 

at Leeds University in a KTP which pioneered a 

collaborative design process for Unilever’s 

packaging used in the personal care business unit. 

The project was set a big challenge from the 

outset, of establishing a low-cost computer-based 

resource to facilitate packaging design across 

multiple locations and organisations. The partners 

created the Virtual Packaging Design Office. The 

technology was tested first within Unilever by 

collaboration between ten internal departments 

and five external companies across four 

continents, and second by student collaboration 

at the Universities of Leeds and Strathclyde. 

The project pioneered the use of collaboration 

technology on Unilever global packaging projects. 

At least two global, high-impact packaging 

designs have already benefited from the virtual 

office environment.

Appendix 

KTP Final Report Assessment Panel 


Mr R Andrews Former Managing Director, Fulcrum Systems Ltd 

Professor F Arthur Former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, The University of Huddersfield 

Mrs S Bird Partner, Bird Acoustics 

Dr T J S Brain Retired TTI Consultant 

Dr J Davies Programme Manager, Know-How Wales, Welsh Development Agency 

Professor C Dennis Director-General, Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association 

Professor C Edwards Head of HR Management, Kingston University 

Mr I Ferguson Former Director, Photek Limited 

Professor R H Hollier Emeritus Professor of Operations Management, 

Manchester Business School, University of Manchester 

Mr A W Jeffries Former KTP Centre Manager, University of Bath 

Professor R Murphy Professor of Chemical Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast 

Mrs L Purser Retired TTI Consultant 

Mr J Vautier Senior Partner, The Ferndale Enterprise 

Dr R Whitcutt Former Director, Industry in Education 

Professor M Wright Vice-Chancellor, Aston University 


Further information 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is one of the DTI’s business support products. 

Day-to-day management is contracted out by the Government. Policy responsibility resides 

with the Government and is led by the DTI acting on behalf of all the public sector bodies 

providing funding. A full list of Sponsors is given on the inside front cover of this report. 

If you would like further information on the benefits Knowledge Transfer Partnerships can 

offer participating companies, knowledge base organisations or recently qualified individuals, 

visit the website www.ktponline.org.uk or call 0870 190 2829 or e-mail 

companies@ktponline.org.uk 

You can also obtain information about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships from the 

following business support organisations: 

In England - Business Link network www.businesslink.gov.uk 

or call 0845 600 9006 

In Scotland - West of Scotland KTP Centre 

Tel: 0141 548 3733 Email: ktp.centre@strath.ac.uk 

Web: www.ktp.strath.ac.uk 

East of Scotland KTP Centre 

Tel: 0131 455 6543 Email: enquiries@ktpcentre.com 

Web: www.ktpcentre.com 

North of Scotland KTP Centre 

Tel: 01224 272194 Email: ktp-link@abdn.ac.uk 

Web: www.ktp-link.co.uk 

Tayside KTP Centre 

Tel: 07887 528999 Email: nei1stewart@aol.com 

Web: www.taysidektp.org 

In Wales - Swansea, South West and North West Wales 

Dr Ted Jones 

Tel: 01974 831429 Fax: 01974 831614 

Email: ted@caron.demon.co.uk 

South East Wales (Cardiff/Newport)/Bristol/Avon/N. Somerset/ 

Gloucestershire 

Mr Howard Nicholls 

Tel: 029 20488042 Email: hcnicholls@btinternet.com 

North Wales 

Idris Price 

Tel: 01978 856140 (office), 07798 760723 (mobile) 

Email: i.price1@ntlworld.com 

In Northern Ireland - Invest Northern Ireland 

www.investni.com or call 028 9023 9090 


Printed in the UK on recycled paper with a minimum HMS score of 75. 

First published October 2006. Department of Trade and Industry. 

© Crown copyright. www.dti.gov.uk 

URN 06/465

Annual Report - Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

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