Back in the late 80's when I was working abroad, Warwick had a clear business plan including an international recruitment focus, and a determination to forge links with industry. Even a few years ago when DS went to an open day it seems to have retained that focus. The main talk, which we attended together, was little short of a sales pitch. I then went to the overseas study talk and was impressed. A large network of Universities worldwide and, at the time, had the largest Erasmus programme in the UK. In the end DS was rejected despite strong (4xA*) predictions, whilst someone he knew received an early acceptance. My guess was that this boy was multi lingual, and Warwick wanted students who were interested and qualified to take up the reciprocal places overseas.
International rankings give credit for international links, such as the number of international staff and students. I understand this is why the National University of Singapore gives good scholarships to UK students.
St Andrews too, has recruited strongly from overseas including Europe and the US, whilst London Universities such as the LSE and Imperial know they sink or swim on their recruitment of high quality international students and staff. Several top Universities: Cambridge, LSE etc have decided not to expand significantly in part, presumably, to avoid diluting their "brand".
Other Universities have taken a different tack. I can't help wondering whether Bristol's drive to expand, including a second campus, is a mistake, though that may depend of whether they then have the funds to run recruitment drives for both strong staff and students.
What I would like to see is better clarity from the Government. In many economically successful regions, whether in the US, Germany or Singapore, it is not just the quality of top tier Universities that make the difference, though obviously spin off research from places like Oxford and Imperial are important. It is the quality of local provision, the community colleges in the US, or ex-polys here, and the extent to which they meet the needs of local employers, that will really drive our economy. It does not really matter whether Kent or York are in the RG. It does matter that employers in Huddersfield are able to recruit the staff they need, and that these staff can access further training as skill requirements evolve. .