Responding to the opportunity of a new Westminster government, Universities UK have created a HE blueprint report by bringing in ‘big hitters’ to author thematic chapters, building on momentum seen in NCUB’s report which seeks to “unlock” SME interaction to “arrest the decline”, as well as Conservative Think Tank report “Venturing out” on commercialising business relationships and engagement. 

This UUK blueprint calls for 5 significant shifts to 1) expand opportunity 2) improve collaboration across the tertiary sector 3) generate stronger local growth 4) secure our future research strength and 5) establish a new global strategy for our universities (see summary here).  

Ultimately this could impact on how we work with business/SMEs and the expectations of such partnerships (for example, the recommendation to aim towards 100 per cent cost recovery for industry-sponsored research, unless engaging with small or emerging businesses). However, whilst these remain recommendations, there is no detail or confirmation, but does lead EEUK to question whether this could be heralding a new era where business partnership and engagement is not just encouraged, but becomes an essential part funding the gap. Changes in this relationship could put knowledge exchange, enterprise and entrepreneurship back on the radar of those institutions who had been looking for cost savings in these areas, and we continue to call upon members to raise the profile, and impact, of the work they do within their communities and regionally.   

• Looking  at impact? why not check out this blog post, exploring the development of an impact framework university–industry collaboration by Professor David Bamford at our 2025 IEEC Hosts, MMU  

• Or if you focus on business starts,  the Entrepreneurs Network (TEN) shared a vision for “united growth” looking for economic growth across all regions (through research with business owners in 12 UK regions) so check their state of the nation to appreciate the issues for your graduate businesses. 

And as term starts, it’s always good to know about the resources available to support you. Following the strong inclusion message throughout IEEC2024, it is worth checking out Lloyds Bank support for female entrepreneurs, and following the release of materials and live masterclasses within the new European Project E4ALL – why not dig into their resource library to find bite size online solutions to use with your students?