By Professor Geraint Rees

More than half of young Britons are unable to name a single entrepreneur.

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The poll that revealed this was designed to show that we need to get behind UK entrepreneurs.

But what if the survey had asked where businesses are born?

I imagine people would point to garages, co-working spaces, perhaps the City.

But I doubt they would include university campuses.

UCL research confirms this blind spot: most people simply don't associate universities with business creation.

If we’re going to reinvigorate Britain’s entrepreneurial ambition, as the campaign responsible for the survey aims to do, then we need to put universities at the heart of the conversation.

I have spent thirty years at the intersection of the two worlds of universities and entrepreneurship including advising DeepMind.

The conventional story is simple. Universities generate knowledge. Some knowledge has commercial potential. Spinouts - with the help of universities - capture that potential. The university's role is to produce discoveries and get out of the........

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