Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) is a government funded UK-wide scheme aimed at improving business performance. They have been around for over 30 years and are very successful. In addition they are of particularly interest to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as they attract 67% subsidy of project costs. In the case of larger organisations the subsidy level is 50%.

The concept is very straight forward. You take an organisation with a project they wish to carry out but don’t have all the expertise in-house. You then match the business with a university, such as The University of Northampton, who have the expertise they lack. Then you recruit a graduate with the right background to come in and help transfer the knowledge from the university to the business and project manage the activity to a successful conclusion.

Suitable projects need to be 6 – 36 months in duration. Costs depend on the duration of the project, however, an SME will pay about £22k per year which covers the full cost of the graduate and the university support team. There is also money available in relation to the graduate for training, equipment and travel/subsistence.

For further information and assistance please contact the university’s Business and Commercial Services Department: 01604 893300, b2b@northampton.ac.uk and www.northampton.ac.uk/business-community