Collaboration between business and universities drops sharply

Covid-19 pandemic sees interactions fall by almost a third, analysis reveals

Collaborations between businesses and universities have been stifled by the Covid-19 pandemic, with small- and medium-sized enterprises hit the hardest.

According to the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), the number of interactions between universities and businesses dropped 31 per cent in a year, totalling 78,347 in 2019-20. This reflected the dramatic fall in activity as the UK entered its first lockdown in spring 2020.