Sir, While the new Government develops its Emergency Budget, it is essential that we recognise the vital role that universities play in our economy. In the global knowledge economy we can best secure our future by safeguarding the institutions that generate that knowledge. That feeds new technologies, new products, new services and the breakthroughs that will ensure our competitive future.

Universities generate £59 billion for the UK economy annually, including £32.4 billion created in other sectors through knock-on impact, making them larger than either the pharmaceutical or air transport industries. Our universities are world leading, and we have an extraordinary record of scientific discovery.

The business base in the UK relies on our universities for their skilled workforce and we are increasingly seeing universities provide invaluable consultancy and research support for businesses in their local area. Our businesses increasingly recruit talent worldwide and have a global approach to investing in research and development. Universities in the UK have much to offer — world-class research, access to the best talent and links with business on research. This is at the heart of both this Government’s and the public’s agenda.

This week marks the inaugural Universities Week, and our message to the public and businesses alike is to back the UK’s universities. It is only by recognising the essential contribution that universities make to our economy that we can begin the long road to economic recovery.

Sir Martin Sorrell
Chief Executive, WPP Group
Sir Philip Hampton
Chairman, RBS Group
Sam Laidlaw
Chief Executive, Centrica
Ian Powell Chairman, PwC
John Griffith-Jones
UK Chairman KPMG LLP
Harold Tillman
Chairman, British Fashion Council
Sir John Parker,
Chancellor, University of Southampton
Tracy Clarke,
Group Head of Human Resources, Standard Chartered Bank
Simon Bradley,
Vice President, EADS Innovation
William Archer,
Director, i-graduate
Dr Stan Higgins,
Chief Executive, North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC)
Dr David Docherty,
Chief Executive, CIHE
Ruth Spellman,
Chief Executive, Chartered Management Institute
Paul Lester,
Chief Executive, VT Group
Frank Buck,
Vice-President Projects & Engineering, Wellstream International Ltd.

Sir, The UK’s private sector invests £16 billion in research and development and employs 150,000 people. Our companies are careful about where they invest. We value the scientific and engineering talent that flows from the UK’s world-class universities and publicly funded research base, and how the tax regime supports research and development investment.

Scientists, engineers, and multinational companies will focus their pursuits in countries with the most favourable intellectual, financial and political environments.

High-skills industries are where the future lies. Demographic and socio-economic change in the EU and beyond means that this country will continue to become less competitive in low-skilled sectors. Our competitor nations recognise these trends and are rapidly investing in high-tech infrastructures.

The UK has an opportunity to drive future economic growth through science and engineering. To do so, the Government needs a clear, strong and long-term strategy for making the UK the most attractive country for companies to conduct research and development. This includes investing in education and public sector research, so that highly skilled graduates and technicians in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are nurtured in the UK.

Such a stable and positive policy environment would give private research and development investors the confidence to undertake long-term projects here, helping to grow the UK’s economy into one that is truly modern and innovative, with strength and security from a diversity of sectors.

Dr Mike Bushell
Principal Scientific Adviser, Syngenta
Jane Cannon
Group managing director, Lockheed Martin UK
Dr Mene Pangalos
Executive vice-president innovative medicines, AstraZeneca R&D
Dr David Roblin
Senior vice-president, R&D, Pfizer
Neil Scott Vice-president, engineering, Airbus UK
Dr Patrick Vallance
Senior vice-president, drug discovery, GlaxoSmithKline
Dr Chris Francis Government programmes, IBM

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