Judge Sampson

Judge Sampson worked with the University of Brighton to secure a Management Knowledge Transfer Partnership (mKTP), a two year business transformation project that gives the company access to funding to employ a high-calibre graduate and access university expertise.

Managed in exactly the same way and with the same grant rate as classic KTPs, mKTPs are designed specifically to inject new management expertise to help expand business capability, increase productivity and flexibility and enable lasting change and growth.

Judge Sampson

Judges of Hastings started as a small postcard printing company in 1902, and following expansion and acquisition of Sampson's Souvenirs, the newly named Judge Sampson became the country's leading importer and producer of tourist products.

Judge Sampson also offer a design service to assist clients in developing their own designs, products and merchandise.

Many items, such as calendars, postcards and greeting cards are printed in the UK however, Judge Sampson works with suppliers all over the world.

The Challenge

Judge Sampson worked with the University of Brighton to secure a Management Knowledge Transfer Partnership (mKTP), a two-year business transformation project that gives the company access to funding to employ a high-calibre graduate and access university expertise.

Managed in the same way and with the same grant rate as classic KTPs, mKTPs are designed specifically to inject new management expertise to help expand business capability, increase productivity and flexibility and enable lasting change and grow.

The overarching challenge is to achieve and secure growth in profits alongside business growth.

The project will include:

Complete digital transformation of the strategic management and marketing of the company
Development of a new product portfolio, informed by sector research
Full exploration and modernisation of the client management process
Design and development of staff training programmes.

Our approach

The project will see digital marketing and business processes transformed, leading to increased productivity, brand recognition and market share. The aspiration is to attract new design clients, whilst maintaining flexible product customisation for customers.

Enhanced product development processes will reduce waste of unwanted products and improved productivity will allow the business to focus more on reducing its environmental impact.

The academic team, Asher Rospigliosi and Rodrigo Lucena De Mello from University's School of Business and Law had particularly relevant knowledge and experience in the complexities of information systems in a business context, product innovation and digital marketing.

mKTP Associate, Lulu Qu a Business Management Graduate with industrial experience in Manufacturing, designs and leads a diverse portfolio of organisational transformation projects to help the business achieve digital transformation and develop change capabilities.

Project aims

To implement cutting edge digital transformation of marketing approaches and associated changes to business processes to increase productivity, brand recognition and market share, and attract new design clients, whilst maintaining flexible product customisation for customers.

Outcomes

The overarching challenge is to achieve and secure growth in profits alongside business growth. The project will bring innovation across business processes and systems transforming the business culture from the core by applying expertise in brand management, digital marketing communications, integrated marketing communications and marketing research from the University of Brighton Business School.

The project will include:

Complete digital transformation of the strategic management and marketing of the company
Development of a new product portfolio, informed by sector research
Full exploration and modernisation of the client management process
Design and development of staff training programmes.

Quick facts

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) is a world-leading programme that helps businesses succeed by connecting them to the UK's rich academic resources.
KTPs are a partnership between the business seeking expertise, a university or college and a recently qualified graduate – known as an Associate.
The graduate (Associate) carries out a strategic project for the business, working with an expert university academic. The Associate works from within the business, under the guidance of the academic, supervised by the company and the university.
Each partnership lasts from twelve months to three years.
Up to 67% of the project costs are government-funded via Innovate UK.

If you would like to talk with our KTP team, please submit your enquiry here.