Insider Media Limited

Recently, we’ve been writing a lot about the region’s universities and their links with individual businesses and the wider economy.

In theory, a close relationship should be a no brainer – universities have a pool of knowledge, research and development capabilities and post-graduates with the skills businesses need.

But the reality is that many businesses – particularly small businesses – remain unaware about what is on offer, how much it will cost and whether it is aimed at them anyway.

Insider ran a round table recently – which brought together representatives of universities and businesses to discuss existing and potential links – and a lunch where a larger group of academics and business people listened to the thoughts of Warwick Manufacturing Group founder Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya on the matter.

I chaired the session, and what was interesting – and slightly depressing – was that the problems aired were the same ones aired at a similar event I had chaired 18 months ago.

While larger businesses are often aware of what universities can offer and have built relationships with them, smaller companies – where the help is most needed – haven’t forged the same kind of links.

The reasons for this are numerous. Universities aren’t for the most part aiding businesses for altruistic reasons. They have to make money. Some universities have even set up consultancies as separate businesses. By and large, they prefer to work with larger companies as they provide chunkier pieces of work and thus higher fees. Working with smaller companies is seen as time-consuming, fiddly and less lucrative.

There is also a massive communication problem. The universities are simply not telling small businesses what they offer. I spoke to a businessman who had sent one of his staff to China to research products and processes. He was flabbergasted to find out he could have done the same thing at his local university.

To be fair to the government, its knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) scheme – which effectively subsidises the employment of a post-graduate within a company and creates a link with the local university – is a fine idea, and the fact that more money is being pumped in to extend it is very welcome. But it’s a shame that money hasn’t been pumped in to promoting it, because many of the small companies I speak to have never heard of it.

The universities, of course, have got problems of their own. The Higher Education Funding Council for Britain (HEFCE) has just announced £449m of funding cuts for the next academic year, which apparently amounts to 6,000 fewer places for students. Research funding, meanwhile, has been frozen.

Perhaps in such an environment, universities will have to become more business-savvy and think of clever ways to make money.

Unfortunately, when it comes to smaller businesses prioritising what they need to do for their businesses to grow, splashing out a large amount of cash to the local university isn’t likely to be top of the list.

Which is why subsidised schemes such as KTPs – and university research and development ‘vouchers’ via Business Link – are the way forward. But having a good idea and keeping it to yourself is a recipe for inertia, not progress.

The verdict? Must try harder.

Andy Coyne, editor, Midlands Business Insider