Following yesterday’s news that Universities UK were warning against government cuts for funding, today several business leaders have also warned the government to be cautious over cutting funds for universities.

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, senior executives from Network Rail, Shell, Centrica and GlaxoSmithKline spoke about the vital contribution made by universities to the long-term financial and economic stability of the country.

The government, which is planning to cut over £600 million from university funding budgets over the next couple of years, has been encouraged by the business community to recognise the important position of universities, especially when it comes to “science, innovation and knowledge”.

The links between the business and higher education worlds is worth roughly £30 billion a year and the business leaders said stronger links could “spur the economy on further”.

The business community has always looked to universities for graduate talent and innovative research and many believe a reduction in funding could damage these strong ties. Business also helps fund higher education which increases the investment potential in the UK and, if the relationship was damaged, the UK could be in danger of falling behind the rest of the world.

A similar claim has been made by the British Academy who claim that a reduction of funding for humanities subjects would decrease the nature of the UK’s standing in the world. Science and maths are obviously the most notable subjects in terms of international achievement but Sir Adam Roberts of the British Academy said humanities disciplines also contributed to the health and wealth of the UK.