Japan had zombie companies, kept sentient by transfusions of bank loans. Similarly undead creatures are stalking the UK’s higher education institutions. Almost half expect to be in deficit in the just-ended academic year, according to the watchdog Office for Students.

Now British banks are growing restive, demanding universities cut costs and — in some cases — deliver up campus buildings as collateral. Hold the hand wringing. Universities, although they hold charity status, embarked on a more market-driven track in the late 1990s. Those in England hold more than ￡13bn of debt. Lenders are right to drop the kid gloves.

True, universities have more constraints than your typical PLC. The amount they can charge domestically is capped well below cost; more lucrative export income has been slashed by government policy over which they have no control. International students were last year largely blocked from bringing families; numbers fell that academic year by 7 per cent according to Higher Education Student Statistics.