Marc Fleetham Director Business Solutions & Regional KTP Manager

My background Business Studies graduate (1987) MBA / MInstKT (2007) Oil; Construction; Steel Industry experience –Business development –Knowledge Transfer 10 yrs at University of Wolverhampton Business Development Manager (2000) Enterprise Development Manager (2001) Knowledge Transfer Partnership Manager (2004) Regional Knowledge Transfer Partnership Manager (2009) Director of Business Solutions (2010)

West Midlands Background 190,000 VAT registered businesses Population of 5.3 million (9% of GB total). The region’s capital city, Birmingham, has a population of over 1 million people. There are approx 2.5 million people employed & 200,000 unemployed £15 Billion output gap Approximately 120,000 deficit in higher level skills

West Midlands

According to former US Secretary of Education Richard Riley…

So, how will companies growth needs be met? –They will need access to graduates equipped with business and project management skills –… at the same time embedding new capabilities through developing existing employees via training and upskilling ….one way uses Innovation products:

Innovation Support Products

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships – Addressing common business issues SME Competitor Activity FinanceMarketing People Management Lack of Time Missed Opportunities Product Development Lack of expertise Operations Management

12 West Midlands Universities working together… University of Wolverhampton –Lead organisation driving the West Midlands (WM) Knowledge Transfer agenda. Responsible for a £23million ERDF part funded project to treble the number of KTP’s in the region from 70 to 210 –Central support function - taking ownership of the regional KT agenda –Experienced - Ranked first in West Midlands for Classic KTP – operating over half (41) of all programmes running regionally(70)

Summary of the Project - Targets by Partner Aston University9 University of Birmingham2 Birmingham City University60 Coventry University32 Harper Adams University College2 Newman University College5 Staffordshire University24 University College Birmingham3 University of Keele10 University of Warwick2 University of Wolverhampton60 University of Worcester3

What are Knowledge Transfer Partnerships? Two types – Shorter (between weeks) Classic (between 1 – 3 years) Explicitly established to improve an organisations competitiveness University, Company, and a graduate working in partnership True knowledge transfer; up-skilling existing staff and providing graduate employment Access to wider knowledge and technologies

What are the benefits of a KTP? Use of unbiased academic experts, and a graduate calibre project manager to deliver chosen business objectives Tackle problems due to lack of expertise, time, finances and facilities Cascading of knowledge and technology Increased business sales through entry to new markets & increase in market share Greater profitability from introducing more efficient working practices Improve bottom-line through greater sales or margins …now lets hear from those actively involved…….

Lessons Learnt Uow took the lead: Leading regional HEI – KTP Respected track record working with ERDF Obtaining regional HEI Partners buy-in: Set achievable KTP growth targets with each institution Shared internal systems, processes and methodology Provision of on-going support/training/workshops for; employer facing HEI staff; academics; finance team; personnel staff etc Raising regional awareness of KTP through: Complimentary working with governmental /professional business facing bodies: Business Link/Chambers of Commerce/ Innovation Advisory Service Business Networking Groups/Clubs Regional Market Development Manager: working with each partner to co- ordinate a regional wide KTP marketing plan

Thank you for listening…. Contact details: Tel: Mob: