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You may ask, what are Knowledge Transfer Partnerships? Well they appear to be the government’s best kept secret, yet for those in the know, the benefits are huge. You could receive up to £24,000 a year to help develop and grow your business.

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme helps companies make strategic advances within their organisations. Private sector companies, public sector organisations or charities can employ a graduate at a highly subsidised rate for between one and three years. In addition, the organisation gets academic expertise and support from a university to make sure that the work the graduate does really makes a difference. Funding is available to support strategic development projects within an organisation, and up to 60% of the costs could be covered by a government grant

The University of Kent has been involved with the scheme for over 10 years working with companies across the South East. The University is extremely successful at receiving KTP funding and has recently signed new partnership agreements with two more businesses in the South East. Erlang Training and Consulting’s KTP is in conjunction with the University’s Computing Laboratory and the London Fancy Box Company is working with the Centre for Regional Business Productivity at Kent Business School.

London Fancy Box Co. Ltd (LFB) based in Dover is an independent designer and manufacturer of primary packaging boxes. LFB are undertaking a double associate KTP that will run from 2006-2008. The first project concerns all the processes involved from initial enquiry to release for manufacturing. The second project picks up from the point of order release and includes all processes from planning to final dispatch. Successful implementation of both programmes will enable better organisation of the production process and hence production capability, a reduction in waste, improved quality and decreased lead time, resulting overall in increased productivity and improved efficiency and customer service.

Chris Lawson, London Fancy Box Co. said ‘We are extremely pleased to be entering into partnership with the University of Kent. We want to learn from their expertise and we now have two highly motivated graduates whose aim is to turn this knowledge into practical improvement actions. This will increase our profitability and customer satisfaction’

If you would like further information about how a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Kent could help your business please contact Kent Enterprise on 01227 827376 or email enterprise@kent.ac.uk