Research councils ‘invisible’ to SMEs, say employers

The CBI business lobby group has said in its submission to the Nurse review of the research councils that medium-sized companies lack awareness of how the councils can help them.

The CBI’s submission, published on 28 April, says that the research councils "lack visibility" as far as  medium-sized businesses based in the UK, and the local subsidiaries of companies headquartered elsewhere, are concerned..

The potential impact of research would be increased by promoting awareness in companies of the work of the research councils and how they can be accessed, the CBI says. For example, the profile of knowledge-transfer partnerships should be raised and the possibility of cross-council business contacts should be explored.