Successful programmes

Rose of Colchester Ltd

Michael Rose

Managing Director of Rose of Colchester


The three-way partnership worked so well that the project achieved significantly more than was originally set out. The KTP was a catalyst for culture change and its success has led to the creation of a new Marketing Department.

Overall, the KTP project has brought to the company a new strategic marketing and business development capability, that has provided the platform for new market opportunities to be identified and a partnering approach to sales agency relationships that will underpin the sustainable growth of the business.

Subsequently, due to the success of the project, the Associate was offered a full time position of Marketing and Business Development Manager working with the senior management on delivering strategic objectives to promote future growth and profitability of the business.

Danica Smith graduated with a first class honours degree in Marketing from Lord Ashcroft International Business School, Anglia Ruskin University, she has been a KTP Associate at Rose of Colchester Ltd.


Danica Smith

BA (Hons) Marketing | Graduate

The reason why I chose Anglia Ruskin University to study my degree was because of the university's reputation of their practical work in business. I knew that the business school had close relationships with local businesses and provided more of a practical-based experience to my degree.

With a passion for marketing and a real drive to succeed in today's highly challenging economic environment, she applied to study for a marketing degree and in 2008, after four years of hard work, she successfully graduated with a first-class BA Honours degree in Marketing.

In the second year of my degree I spent the first semester abroad in Anglia Ruskin's sister university based in Malaysia. This was an amazing experience where I studied the exact same modules as UK students; however I experienced a new country and culture at the same time.

Although Danica found her studies demanding, she says her years at LAIBS were excellent, enabling her to gain a varied and wide range of marketing and general business knowledge and skills. In her last year of study, while working on her dissertation, she discovered the KTP Programme through a lecturer and saw this as an excellent opportunity to start her career in marketing.


The whole process happened very quickly, all within a week really. The project had a clear structure, with pre-determined objectives that were set jointly by Philip Robinson, Senior Lecturer and Academic Supervisor, and Michael Rose, Managing Director at Rose of Colchester Ltd. At first glance I was slightly nervous about the objectives however after my first week I knew we could achieve them. Throughout my degree we had been taught about 'business objectives' and 'marketing strategies', but the KTP project enabled me to put my knowledge into real life practice. It was very calming to know that whilst this was my first real, full time marketing job I had the Business School's full support behind me, both financially and emotionally. I knew I could lean on the extensive resources, knowledge and networks LAIBS offers. With such an excellent structure and support offered with the project, I was confident about the challenges ahead of me. I knew exactly each week what I had to deliver in order to complete the project successfully.

I gained so much personally from the KTP project in terms of knowledge and skills that are vital for any marketing role in business. Whilst my degree gave me a great insight into the academic world, the project gave me a better strategic and tactical understanding of marketing activities, especially online marketing activities such as Search Engine Optimisation - an essential aspect of marketing in the 21st century. Every marketing job in every industry will include some aspect of e-marketing and, thanks to the KTP project, I have gained the skills required for the highly competitive and ever-changing world of business. I would strongly recommend the KTP scheme to all graduates who are seeking the opportunity to gain significant and valuable business experience, whilst adding real value to a regional company. The three-way partnership works so well, it truly is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Low Carbon KEEP programme at Hamelin Trust Services Ltd

D. Howland

Hamelin Trust Services Ltd

Debbie was engaged to improve the marketing and publicity of Hamelin Trust. She made an immediate impact and quickly started to raise the profile of the charity. Her enthusiasm, self-motivation and resourcefulness enabled her to drive forward a number of parallel activities which resulted in monies being raised, new relationships being established and a real sense of achievement.

The Company

Hamelin Trust Services Ltd is the trading subsidiary of Hamelin Trust, a registered charity supporting disabled children, adults and their families throughout Essex, Southend, Thurrock and in some London Boroughs. While the main source of income for the organisation is derived from local authority contracts and spot purchases for its respite care services, over recent years Hamelin has been identifying and developing social enterprise opportunities to complement its current services and provide additional sustainable income sources. With significant reductions in local authority budgets pursuing alternative income sources is becoming increasingly more important. HTS Ltd has 5 enterprises projects at varying stages of development all with environment improving objectives.

Strategic Requirement

HTS Ltd recently moved into larger refurbished premises which provide the space to develop a wider range of reuse, recycling and training opportunities. However, the organisation does not have the specific in-house business and marketing expertise to explore, attract and maximise the potential for its enterprises. The main objective of the project was to identify potential markets and customers to contribute to increased turnover and sustainability for the individual projects and the organisation as a whole. The Low Carbon KEEP programme was an appropriate solution.

Solution

It was decided by the management group that the initial focus of the project should be on activities broadly covering objectives 7 and 8 to meet the immediate and pressing needs of Hamelin Trust. Activities contributing to profile raising of the organisation generally with concentrated activity on internal and external communications and development of CRM via the newly acquired CRM system were prioritised. Exploring grant funding opportunities was also a noted priority with the aim of attracting funding for capacity building objectives in response to identified resource gaps across the organisation. During the 4 month period of the respective Associate, activity in all these areas was initiated and development had commenced. Increased levels of engagement have been achieved across a broad spectrum of sector and cross-sector engagement including local and county wide infrastructure organisations, volunteers, trustees, media, local government, as well as local authority procurement and potential corporate supporters. Initial promotional literature has been produced and distributed and grant funding opportunities have been identified with one application having been submitted.

Successful outcomes for the Company:

  • Acquisition of EPOS system, enabling accurate recording of landfill saving statistics from product donations and sales via Hamelin's charity shops. This can then be utilised in Hamelin's marketing message to achieve increased donor levels and sales.
  • Acquisition of Harlequin system for improved and effective communication resulting in productive relationship building opportunities which are crucial to donor engagement.
  • Improved understanding of the income potential from proactively pursuing wide stakeholder relationships.
  • A greater appreciation of the potential of its enterprise activities and the resources (capacity building) required to achieve this potential.
  • An initial review of the brand has highlighted the need for a comprehensive review with stakeholder consultation, from which it is recognised that Hamelin would benefit. A refreshed and strengthened brand would serve to maximise return on marketing and promotional activities with the potential to increase donor engagement.

Successful outcomes for the Associate

  • An improved understanding of the challenges of balancing social purpose versus budget management.
  • An appreciation of the prevailing risk averse attitude of the Third Sector but equally the importance of the need for creativity and evolution for sustainability and success.
  • This project demonstrates the need for business disciplines within the sector and how organisations can benefit from focused activity from specifically allocated resources, especially marketing and communications and the other business development skills I am able to offer.
  • Experience gained in working on a multi-agency project.
  • My experience with Hamelin Trust has contributed to the course I am currently completing with ARU and has reinforced my aim to pursue a career within the sector.

Debbie Smith

KTP Associate

I have very much enjoyed my period of working with the Hamelin project. The challenges from the project start were considerable and it has been interesting and informative to have been a part of the development process. I believe that my activities have resulted in a positive impact across the organisation.

Hamelin organisational challenges had gathered momentum since submitting the initial programme application (almost 3 years). During that time significant economic, strategic and logistical challenges had gathered pace. Business analysis, strategy and planning are the key to Hamelin's future success and sustainability and all the original objectives are still very relevant to achieving the desired outcomes for all parties. However, prioritising these objectives is difficult for Hamelin Trust due to the current daily operational challenges the organisation faces, with limited resources to action the business activities necessary to move forward. Hamelin has an interim Business Manager who has initiated and is still implementing a programme of organisational restructure and change management. There are also several new Trustees who have recently been appointed. After a critical period of contraction, a growth strategy and programme of development in key marketing and delivery areas is needed.

Low Carbon KEEP programme at Data HQ

Successful outcomes for the Company

  • Improved social conscience
  • Reduced carbon footprint
  • The launch of a new product
  • Increased web traffic through social media
  • Improved and updated resources eg intranet
  • Acquiring ISO9001 BSI standard

The Company

Data HQ is a unique, full-service database and digital marketing agency. The Company specialises in providing high quality data services to clients in every industry sector and guarantees to hold the most up-to-date and accurate data in the UK. Whether you require b2b or b2c data Date HQ is at the forefront of the industry and can lead you through the data journey from purchase to end user, helping you plan your campaign more strategically.

Strategic Requirements

The project objectives were to research, implement and embed an effective e-business, allowing Data HQ's customers to access database services online and enabling the Company to perform in a more carbon and resource efficient manner.

  • Conduct an IT analysis of the business focusing on e-commerce
  • Create an E-Commerce Working Group
  • Develop a Low Carbon Management Information System and CRM
  • Develop an e-commerce strategy and supporting systems
  • Test the e-commerce strategy
  • Evaluate the e-commerce strategy
  • Implement the e-commerce strategy
  • Monitor the e-commerce strategy
  • Systemise the e-commerce strategy

Solution

The project was aimed to assess the value of introducing an online data purchasing system. From the outset we looked at the implications and value in a 'data shop' and found there was a gap in the market. It has now been live for over a year and is proving popular. Alongside this, the associate has been adding to marketing material for Corporate Contacts and Data HQ, introducing new areas on the website, introducing and updating the company intranet, and promoting the company and its products on social media. The associate has also been instrumental in acquiring and retaining the ISO9001 standard.

Successful outcome for the Associate

  • Working with a prestigious data company
  • Implementing marketing initiatives within the company
  • Being trusted to carry out activities on the companies behalf
  • Having a better knowledge of how to be socially responsible as a company
  • Reducing the companies carbon footprint

Rebecca Bowerman

KTP Associate

The Carbon KEEP allowed me to get to know a company and industry I had not worked in before. It's been challenging and very interesting.

If you would like to find out more about the Knowledge Transfer Partnership opportunities get in touch with our Business Development Team - laibs-info@anglia.ac.uk or 0845 196 5685

Follow LAIBS:

LAIBS Facebook - opens in a new browser window


Bookmark this page with: