News - Universitys Knowledge is Power for Local Businesses
The University of Plymouth has been praised by the country's leading business lobbying organisation for sharing its skills and expertise with local companies to help them thrive and maximise their potential.
The University is a champion of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), where graduates and academics are parachuted into local companies to help boost firms' competitiveness, productivity and performance.
And one scheme, which saw a South West company's sales of airport seating really take off, has been hailed as 'best practice' by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Academics and a qualified graduate from the University helped Zoeftig, a furniture designer and manufacturer based at Bude, Cornwall, produce new flexible seating arrangements to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding airport market - with the company's sales rising by 25%.
The CBI, the voice of over 240,000 businesses, which helps create and sustain the conditions in which they can compete and prosper, highlighted the link-up, saying it showed "how business and universities are reacting to the need to be more competitive, more innovative and more collaborative.
"Effective collaboration between universities and business is critical both to the UK's ongoing economic recovery and to sustaining the quality and relevance of teaching, research and training."
Professor Julian Beer, Director of Research and Enterprise and Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University, said: "We are delighted to be recognised for our KTPs, which are helping local businesses innovate, expand and improve their performance to stand out in today's increasingly competitive market.
"The scheme offers recent graduates a fast track into management by giving them responsibility for a strategic project from the outset, working within a business and supported by a University expert, to manage a project that delivers real business profit. Many of the companies we have worked with have employed the graduate at the end of their programme."
Professor Wendy Purcell, Vice-Chancellor at the University, said: "KTPs are a key part of our offer and are a fantastic way of translating our research into business success."
Charlie Fowler, a graduate in Furniture Design and Craftsmanship, with help from the University School of Engineering's Dr David Grieve and Dr John Summerscales, carried out in-depth research into the latest developments in materials, processing and manufacturing which resulted directly in the launch of the new product range for Zoeftig.
Charlie, who is now Design and Product Manager at the company, said: "Zoeftig wouldn't have been ready to undertake such a challenging and innovative project without the support of the University and the KTP system as a whole.
"The University's KTP success lies in its combination of world class academic skills and knowledge and a dedicated KTP management team that support the company, associate and academics throughout the project.
"The key aspect of the KTP's effectiveness is in giving an individual the opportunity to step back from the day to day running and workings of a company and undertake a substantial period of research and development. This is something that is rare in small companies, as a result of the upfront long-term investment required, but the KTP project with the University has turned Zoeftig from a reactionary company into a market innovator and leader.
"This new long-term attitude towards product design and development has now been fully adopted by the company as whole and is an embedded culture change that has taken place as a direct result of the KTP."