8 September 2010

Modelled on the British Library’s critically acclaimed Business & IP Centre and jointly developed by The British Library, NESTA, Newcastle City Council and Northumbria University, Newcastle is to see the development of a new Business Advisory Service. Offering startups and growth business a hub for all their physical business support needs, the centre will aim to provide entrepreneurs with a comprehensive range of services and information on how to research, develop and protect their business ideas. Mark Prisk MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, last night announced that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to examine the set up of a new business support centre in the North East had been signed.

Already home to some of the country’s brightest up-and-coming businesses, particularly within the creative industries, the North East was one of a number of regions considered for the pilot project. However, with a number of first-class information and research facilities already in place, and both Northumbria University and Newcastle City Library willing to work in partnership with the British Library and NESTA, the North East offers the perfect opportunity to assess ways in which the Business & IP Centre model could be used to help maximise the transfer of knowledge from research to industry across the UK.

Mark Prisk MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, said: "The Coalition Government is determined to rebalance the UK economy. That means promoting innovation and enterprise across the whole of the UK. This collaboration between the British Library, NESTA and some of the region’s leading organisations is great news for the local economy. The pilot promises to build on the North East’s proud and innovative history. It will provide residents with tools and information to help them start and grow their own businesses."

Head of Business Marketing at the British Library, Isabel Oswell, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with NESTA, Northumbria University and Newcastle City Council to roll out this model for business support, exploring how the excellent facilities of institutions such as Newcastle City Library can be transformed to provide a real hub for innovation in the North East.”

Impacts of the Business & IP Centre on London

Part-funded by the London Development Agency (LDA), since its launch in 2006 the British Library Business & IP Centre has become an essential resource for the capital’s existing and aspiring entrepreneurs. Combining free access to an unrivalled collection of world class business information and over £5 million worth of market research material with a fully comprehensive range of workshops and one-to-one advice sessions, the Centre has provided direct advice and support for over 25,000 Londoners looking to start and grow their businesses.

Between 2007 and 2009 the Centre put on over 2000 support sessions for the capital’s entrepreneurs. Assessing the value of these sessions to the London economy, an independent survey of attendees showed that, of the 471 users questioned, 14% reported having started a business in the last two years indicating 829 new businesses were created by entrepreneurs using the Library during this time – that’s three times as many as in Westfield, Europe’s largest shopping centre!

A vital resource for business start-ups, the Centre is also used extensively by existing businesses to develop new products and services, with over 50% of users already trading. In total, between 2007 and 2009, SMEs using the Centre generated £22 in additional turnover for every £1 invested by the LDA, demonstrating a significant return on investment. Most importantly, 89% of entrepreneurs who used the Centre’s resources stated that they would not have achieved such success without the Library’s support, preventing the potential loss of almost £28.5 million to the capital's economy.

It is hoped that by developing plans for rolling out the Business & IP Centre model to a variety of cities around the UK, including cities such as Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast, the British Library and NESTA can offer guidance to Government on supplementing existing business support services, provide better access to vital sources of research information and meet the growing demands of entrepreneurs for more hands on, physical support.

* NESTA - National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.