Green Lizard Technologies Ltd was founded in 2015, as a spin out company from Queen’s University Belfast.  The company works to provide green and sustainable technological solutions to the chemical, sustainable energy and recycling industries. It focuses both on solving immediate problems, while also providing a mechanism to incubate new ideas and scope new innovations in a fast and effective manner. With sites now both at Queen’s in Belfast and the Wilton Centre in Teesside, and in a fast-moving sector, the company has access to all that both academia and industry offer.

The company’s Operations Director, Sarah Thompson, and Sophie McComb, Head of Business Strategy and Sustainability, outline how their participation in a KTP project with Queen’s has helped the company. 

An early Management KTP Project
“I had completed my PhD in Chemistry in 2015 and was working for an MBA,” Sophie explains.

“I understood the technologies Green Lizard were developing from a chemistry perspective, but I was also becoming more interested, through the MBA, in further exploring the company’s management and commercial activities rather than the technical or research areas.”

Sarah confirms that because of the company’s diverse range of projects, it needed help through the KTP on the business management side:  to develop a bespoke, custom-built business model that would fit the company. 

“Our project was one of the first that wasn’t technically focused. We were delighted to begin the KTP in January 2019, with Professor Patrick McCole of the University’s Business School as our Academic Lead.  We advertised for an Associate and Sophie proved to be the ideal candidate. We needed someone with an understanding of the science and background to the company projects, but who also has a commercial awareness,” Sarah says.

Benefits of the KTP Project for the Business
Sarah explains that the KTP project delivered on its aims - and more.

“There is great flexibility around the KTP programme: it allowed us to adapt the project as the company progressed over the three years the project ran with different priorities arising, which is fantastic. We also had Covid too in the mix – and a maternity break for Sophie, that the KTP flexibility supported.” Sophie adds that this flexibility is particularly appealing to SMEs considering a KTP. “What you set out to achieve is rarely where you end with a fast-growing SME, and the fact that the KTP was able to accommodate our journey and the changes that happened through the Green Lizard journey led to the project’s success.” 

Sarah also comments that having an expert academic to turn to for support at Queen’s was a great help.

“Professor Patrick McCole was highly knowledgeable; he was incredibly encouraging and very positive.” 

Sophie gives examples of the practical support Professor McCole offered as she developed a bespoke business model.

“He helped with scenario planning, risk management and modelling, which helped me put together a series of processes and protocols. These essentially provide a checklist, an iterative testing cycle and a risk analysis approach which has allowed us to make more informed business decisions, faster, easier and with more confidence. If an issue comes up now, we go through the new process steps that help give us an early indication of whether we ought to ‘proceed’, ‘not proceed’ or ‘possibly’. This in turn helps us to refine our new business model.”

Giving an example, Sarah adds:

“One area it helped with was around the number of projects that Green Lizard had been engaged with at the start of the KTP.  Using our validation model, we were able to refine the company focus. We never dropped a project, but it helped us to prioritise our resources as a small business.”

KTP Supports Associates’ Career Development
The project also helped Sophie on her own career path. When the KTP concluded she took on a new, permanent role within the company as Business Development Manager.  More recently she has been promoted to her current role, which involves developing company strategy and analysing internal business decisions, as well as managing and promoting the company’s ESG strategy and green credentials – very important given the areas it operates within!

As part of the KTP, there is funding available for training programmes. Sophie completed a Sustainable Business Strategy course at the Harvard Business School online. She explains,

“It focused on purpose-driven leadership to promote sustainable business practices throughout the organisation. In my new role I now rely on the knowledge I gained from the course.”

A Clear Recommendation of KTP
Reflecting on what to say that would encourage another company to take on a KTP project, Sarah says:

“I would 100% encourage other companies to work on a KTP partnership.  In terms of paperwork and reports it isn’t too arduous in comparison to other grants: it’s all very straightforward.  The project structure helps you to stay on track and the academic partner and KTP office team are supportive.”

 

KTPs are funded by UKRI through Innovate UK with the support of co-funders, including the Scottish Funding Council, Welsh Government, Invest Northern Ireland, Defra and BEIS. Innovate UK manages the KTP programme and facilitates its delivery through a range of partners including Innovate UK Business Connect, Knowledge Bases and Businesses. Each partner plays a specific role in the support and delivery of the programme.

If you have an innovative idea for your business and would like to discuss whether a KTP could help take it forward, please contact us at ktp@qub.ac.uk

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For more information about this partnership, please contact aoife.lynch@qub.ac.uk