How 20 years of KTPs have helped an engineering SME increase turnover by £1m

Chesterfield company Penny Engineering specialise in lifts for industry, from forklift trucks to cranes.

For over 20 years they have been working with us to develop new products and make strategic improvements using Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). In a KTP, the company takes on a graduate, backed by academic and structural support from the University, to tackle a specific strategic priority.

We spoke to the company’s chairman, Robin Penny about how KTPs have helped his business.

What do KTPs bring to your business?

KTPs have had a big impact on our business. Over the years, these projects with Sheffield Hallam have helped us develop new products and even a whole new division.

They also allow us to attract the best and brightest engineers. Many of the people we have brought in as part of KTPs have gone on to work for us and progress through the company. In fact, our first ever KTP associate retired earlier this year, having joined us as a mature student over 20 years ago.

How do Sheffield Hallam help with recruiting the right person for the project?

I would say their recruitment process is key to the success of the projects. As an SME we are competing with big multinational companies for the best engineers. The KTPs promote us as a good place to work and allow us to recruit superb talent. Our chartered engineer came to us as a student and she is now running a division.

How do you decide when you want to work on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership?

The KTP application process is very professional and it focuses your mind on what you need as a business. We have to identify an opportunity that will lead to a specific impact and leave us with a lasting capability.

These projects are not taken on a whim, — for our current KTP we spent a year thinking about it before we started the application. This strategic and targeted approach is why KTPs have such a high success rate.

What kind of projects have you used KTPs for?

One example is our nuclear division, which came from a KTP. We made a strategic decision to move into the nuclear decommissioning sector, but we had no idea how to get started. We took on a graduate and within six months we had £300,000 of work in the sector. He is now the general manager of that division, and that part of the business makes £1m a year.

Our current KTP is helping us to introduce a new state-of-the-art forklift using electrical drive instead of hydraulics. It’s an ambitious project that will deliver a truck that’s more efficient, safer and easier to control.

We have customers waiting for the product, and we couldn’t have done this alone. The added professionalism and structure of the KTP has halved the time of the project, and reduced the risk by even more.

What makes Sheffield Hallam a good partner for KTPs?

They are very focused on industry and they understand the needs of business. They provide a practical education which includes running real projects as part of their course.

As a result, Sheffield Hallam’s students tend to be more work-ready than others. They are high-performing, they bring heaps of enthusiasm and they look at things in a different way.

Over the last 20 years they have driven change in our organisation, and I look forward to more success in the future.