• Services for business:
• Support for SMEs
• Why work with Kingston University?
• KTP for graduates
• KTP For businesses
• Work with us
• Training and professional development
• Intellectual Property and Commercialisation
• Work with our students and graduates
• Higher and degree apprenticeships
• Knowledge exchange
• Key partnerships and strategic relationships
• Venue and facilities hire
• Case studies
• News and events

• Services for business:
• Support for SMEs
• Why work with Kingston University?
• KTP for graduates
• KTP For businesses
• Work with us
• Training and professional development
• Intellectual Property and Commercialisation
• Work with our students and graduates
• Higher and degree apprenticeships
• Knowledge exchange
• Key partnerships and strategic relationships
• Venue and facilities hire
• Case studies
• News and events

How to access funding for small businesses

There was a very good turnout at our most recent business breakfast seminar jointly hosted by Enterprise Support and the Faculty of Business and Law at the Business School, Kingston Hill.

The aim of the event, introduced by Professor Wendy Lomax, School of Strategy, Marketing & Innovation, was to help small and medium-sized businesses understand how to access funds to help grow and develop their business, specifically knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs). 

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. KTP encourages innovation and improves the effectiveness of an organisation through collaboration with a university. 

The morning started with breakfast and some formal presentations followed by a networking session. Local KTP adviser, Paul Naylor, spoke in detail about KTP – how a KTP works, qualifying criteria, typical duration and costs.

Darren Russell, Systems Manager, Lerch Bates, Consulting Engineers, spoke about his firm's specific experience in running a KTP – four to date. He highlighted the benefits of the programme emphasising how it had enabled his firm to develop capability to meet strategic challenges in their marketplace that they would not otherwise have been able to do.

KTP is a government funded scheme and can fund up to 60% of project costs and usually involves a three-way partnership between a company, an academic or academic team, and a highly skilled graduate. A graduate is recruited to work within the business, and s/he is supervised by a manager within the company and an academic or academic team at KU.  In a large majority of cases the graduates are subsequently recruited by participating firms to permanent positions.

More information on KTP is available from Cassie Talfour-Rich, business enterprise officer or Kathryn Elliott, business development manager.