Innovate UK has announced the winners of the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Awards 2025, celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the UK’s longest-running and most successful innovation programs.
The milestone event was run by Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, and celebrated half a century of collaboration between businesses, universities and graduates. It highlighted projects that have driven productivity, sustainability and commercial impact across all sectors of the economy.
This year’s winners were praised for their exceptional contributions to scientific progress, digital transformation and societal value creation, embodying KTP’s enduring mission to translate cutting-edge research into real results.
The African Agriculture KTP Award went to Taro-Agric Consulting in collaboration with Obafemi Awolowo University and the University of the West of England for groundbreaking data-driven innovations in the Nigerian poultry industry. The collaboration leveraged IoT platforms, dashboards and databases to address production inefficiencies, reduce mortality rates and costs while increasing profitability and institutional capacity for digital agriculture.
The Best KTP Award was presented to Yeo Valley Farms (Production) Ltd and the University of Reading, whose partnership has transformed yogurt production through process modeling and protein science. By advancing research on milk protein denaturation and gel formation, the project doubled milk utilization, improved product texture, and delivered both financial and environmental benefits—all while enriching teaching and graduate opportunities.
The Changing the World Award went to Dunsters Farm Limited and Manchester Metropolitan University, a family-run hospitality business known for integrating sustainability, social value and data-driven decision-making into its operations. The initiative secured a six-year, £40 million contract and positioned Dunsters Farm as a model for socially responsible, profitable business growth.
Richard Lamb, KTP program manager at Innovate UK, praised this year’s cohort as evidence that the initiative remains “as relevant as ever”.
“Year after year, the projects in our KTP program exceed expectations, deliver significant impact, advance knowledge and drive growth,” said Lamb. “After 50 years, KTP continues to attract companies looking to grow, academics passionate about solving real-world challenges, and the brightest graduates from around the world.”
This year also saw the debut of the Golden KTP Awards, honoring individuals and projects whose influence has shaped innovation practice and collaboration throughout the program’s history.
Since its inception, the KTP initiative has supported over 14,000 partnerships, generated an estimated £2.3 billion in value and established itself as a cornerstone of the UK innovation landscape.
“KTP remains at the heart of the UK’s mission to drive productivity, resilience and sustainable industrial growth through collaboration between business and science,” Lamb added.
Winner of the Innovate UK KTP Award 2025
- Best KTP Project for African Agriculture: Taro-Agric Farm (TAF) – University of the West of England, Bristol and Obafemi Awolowo University
- Best knowledge base KTP support team: The University of Essex
- Award for the best knowledge transfer partnership: Yeo Valley Farms (Production) Ltd – University of Reading
- Changing the World Award: Dunsters Farm Limited – Manchester Metropolitan University
- Awards for future leaders:
Ashtead Engineering Company Ltd – Kingston University
Dr. Simeon Skopalik – Soapworks Ltd / University of Glasgow
Ray Holder – Smartify Holdings Limited / University of the West of Scotland
Shay McEvoy – AB Pneumatics Ltd / Queen’s University Belfast
Renato Software Ltd – Birmingham City University
- KTP Academic of the Year: TNEI Services Limited – Glasgow Caledonian University
- Technical Excellence Award: Soapworks Ltd – University of Glasgow
- Business Transformation Award: Detoxpeople Ltd – Anglia Ruskin University
As Innovate UK celebrates the golden anniversary of its flagship program, the KTP Awards 2025 reaffirm the UK’s global leadership in collaboration between industry and academia.
From AI-driven agriculture to low-carbon food manufacturing, the successful partnerships show how innovation thrives when business insights meet academic excellence – a formula that has been making an impact for five decades and is set to shape the next generation of UK businesses.
