23 OUR BUSInESS LInKS
business &industry Working with
Demonstrating expertise in identifying the needs of businesses and responding to them, Wolverhampton is recognised as one of the most entrepreneurial, business-facing new universities in the region. The University continues to be in the top 10 UK universities for delivering economic development and regeneration programmes with companies, and in 2008, became the leading new university in the region for business engagements, providing consultancy, skills development and research worth £25.6 million, an increase of 10% on the previous year.
Knowledge Transfer Our links with industry are strong, and together we’re working on major initiatives to benefit the West Midlands region. One of the key areas is Knowledge Transfer. By establishing a partnership between a company, a graduate and an academic from within the University through the national Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme (KTP), organisations can tap into our groundbreaking research, the latest thinking in management and organisational practice and the knowledge of a high quality graduate.
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The University is the leading provider of KTPs in the West Midlands and ranked second in the UK. Findings from recent schemes have shown the considerable benefits for businesses of: • an increase of over £220,000 in annual profits before tax • the creation of three genuine new jobs • an increase in skills of existing staff
Graduate placements The Knowledge Innovation Technology Transfer Scheme (KITTS) aims to match the skills of recently qualified graduates with the specific needs of companies within the West Midlands. Graduates are given the opportunity to put theory into practice through a ‘real-life’ work-based project during a 10-12 week placement. Companies benefit from having a high-calibre graduate working on a short-term project that previously they may not have had the resource to implement.
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