For many manufacturing businesses, investment is often measured in new machinery, automation or factory expansion. At Birmingham-based HT Brigham Pressings, however, innovation is increasingly being driven by investment in people, knowledge and collaboration.
The long-established precision metal pressings specialist is continuing to strengthen its relationship with academia through an ongoing Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Birmingham City University, helping to bring fresh talent, new perspectives and innovation-led thinking into one of the Midlands’ most respected engineering businesses.
The partnership, which began in 2024, forms part of a wider strategy to futureproof the business by combining decades of manufacturing expertise with the latest academic research, digital marketing capability and commercial innovation.
At the centre of the project is KTP Associate Stacey Kong, who is leading marketing and new product innovation activities across the Brigham Group. Working closely with university academics and senior leadership, Kong has been tasked with developing frameworks for market entry, customer insight, product development and commercial growth.
Since joining the business, she has led extensive customer segmentation research, developed pricing and demand validation strategies, structured go-to-market plans and built forecasting models to support future product launches.
For HT Brigham Chief Executive Doug Allen, the value of the partnership extends far beyond a single project.
“In manufacturing, innovation comes from bringing together different experiences, different perspectives and different ways of thinking. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships give businesses like ours access to talented individuals who can challenge assumptions, introduce new ideas and help us look at opportunities through a fresh lens.”
The KTP programme, supported nationally by Innovate UK, has spent more than five decades helping businesses collaborate with universities to solve strategic challenges, accelerate innovation and improve productivity.
Natalie Lewis, Head of Knowledge Transfer at BCU, said: “Innovate UK confirmed that 48% of all current KTPs within the West Midlands are delivered through BCU – a testament to our civic mission and our 2030 strategy of supporting regional business and community growth.
“Now ranked fourth in the UK for KTP live projects and with a growth pipeline of innovative applications in development, we aspire to break into the top three by 2026.”
For manufacturers operating in increasingly competitive global markets, Allen believes such partnerships are becoming more important than ever.
“The future of British manufacturing depends on our ability to attract talented people into the sector,” he said.
“We need to show graduates that engineering and manufacturing offer exciting careers where they can make a genuine impact. Partnerships with universities help bridge that gap between academia and industry, allowing us to develop future leaders while benefiting from the latest research and commercial thinking.”
The project has also highlighted the changing nature of modern manufacturing careers. While HT Brigham remains renowned for its expertise in precision metal pressings, tooling, assemblies and engineered components, the company increasingly recognises the importance of skills in digital marketing, customer insight, innovation management and strategic planning.
Kong believes the KTP has provided a unique opportunity to combine academic knowledge with practical industrial experience.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of the KTP has been seeing how ideas can move from research into real-world implementation,” she said.
“Manufacturing businesses possess incredible technical expertise and experience. Through the partnership we’re able to introduce new methodologies, customer insight tools and innovation frameworks that can help support future growth.”
Her work has included the development of a market entry framework for new product opportunities, customer segmentation analysis involving more than 300 respondents, pricing strategy development and the creation of structured commercial roadmaps designed to support long-term business growth.
Alongside the technical objectives of the project, the partnership is helping HT Brigham strengthen links with the wider regional innovation ecosystem.
As one of the West Midlands’ longest-established manufacturers, the company sees collaboration with universities as a critical component of maintaining competitiveness while supporting the development of future talent within the region.
“We’ve been manufacturing in Birmingham for generations,” Allen continued.
“The West Midlands has always been built on engineering excellence, but maintaining that position requires continual investment in skills, innovation and partnerships.
“Knowledge Transfer Partnerships allow businesses and universities to learn from one another. We gain access to new thinking and emerging talent, while students and graduates gain invaluable exposure to real-world manufacturing environments.”
The collaboration also reflects a broader trend across UK industry, with manufacturers increasingly looking beyond traditional investment strategies and recognising that innovation capability, workforce development and knowledge sharing are becoming major competitive advantages.
For HT Brigham, the partnership represents another step in an ongoing journey of continuous improvement.
“Our presses, tooling expertise and manufacturing capabilities remain at the heart of what we do,” Allen concluded.
“But the businesses that thrive in the future will be those that combine engineering excellence with innovation, agility and a willingness to embrace new ideas.
“The KTP programme helps us do exactly that.”
As the project continues to deliver new insights and opportunities, HT Brigham’s partnership with Birmingham City University demonstrates how collaboration between industry and academia can help create stronger businesses, more rewarding careers and a more competitive future for British manufacturing.