Over the last four years, 30 spin-out companies have been successfully floated on the stock market, at a value of £1.7 billion.

The University of Surrey Technology Centre supports 84 small companies, helping them with the practicalities of controlling cash flow coupled with mentoring and research support.

Companies can then move onto the main Surrey Research Park, which has an estimated value to the regional economy of over £1 billion. Surrey start-up success story, Detica, was recently acquired by BAe for £538 million.