There were 975 live Knowledge Transfer Partnerships as of 31 March 2008.  For every £1 million of government spend, the average benefits to the company amounted to a £3.08 million annual increase in profit before tax.

Innovation vouchers
The Aston INDEX (Innovation Delivers Expansion) scheme provides small and medium-sized enterprises in the West Midlands with a £3,000 voucher to buy academic support for an innovation at any of the region’s 13 universities.

So far 220 such businesses have benefited from the Aston scheme and a further 500 vouchers are planned for the next two years.

Find out more about innovation vouchers

Employer engagement fund
Nationally, HEFCE is putting £148 million over the next three years into supporting greater employer engagement in addition to its £400 million Higher Education Innovation Fund and the billions invested in research and teaching. These funds support universities and colleges to reach out to businesses and provide the ideas and skills needed for innovation and improved productivity.