Business & Intellectual Property Centre North East (BIPC) is delighted to announce that The Word Library located in South Shields is the third ‘BIPC Local’ to officially open its doors from Monday 12 July.
This new Centre will provide local businesses and anyone looking to set-up their own business in and around South Tyneside with free access to on-site business databases and the latest market research information and resources. Customers will also have access to BIPC North-East’s regional advice and support services and can find out more about other business support opportunities available in South Tyneside.
BIPC North East was originally established in 2011 as BIPC Newcastle. This was the country’s first regional Business & IP Centre, outside of London, providing a service for the north-east business community. Over the past 10 years, BIPC Newcastle has supported over 14,000 new-starts and growing businesses. During the last 12 months, BIPC Newcastle has played a key role in helping over 300 SMEs to safeguard around 600 jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Building upon the success of over the last 10 years and as part of the British Library’s national network expansion, BIPC Newcastle has recently rebranded as BIPC North East and is now extending out to 6 new locations known as ‘BIPC Locals’ including The Word Library.
David Brooks, Corporate Lead for Culture and Leisure Services at South Tyneside Council, said: “We are delighted that the new BIPC centre has opened at The Word, with the local business community now able to get access to free specialist advice on a variety of issues.
“Our libraries are fantastic sources of information. It’s great that we can now support local inventors, new entrepreneurs and small enterprises to develop their ideas and grow their businesses by providing access to experts in residence as well as databases and statistics, such as market trends, consumer behaviours and funding opportunities.
“It will be another valuable resource for South Tyneside and we’re looking forward to building on the success of BIPC North East.”
The BIPC Local located at The Word has its own dedicated suite for business support and is equipped with a core set of resources, such as up to date market research and business information enabling users to access for free the latest market research and trends, company data, and funding opportunities from a suite of online databases, including COBRA, Kompass and GRANTfinder. The BIPC North East team will be also on hand to offer local businesses initial information and guidance on Intellectual Property (IP) matters, as well as provide a sound understanding of the different types of IP protection available.
The services will be brought to life by a tailored and highly individual programme of events, workshops and one-to-ones, delivered in collaboration by local partners. BIPC North East has a team of over 30 Experts in Residence, who derive from a wide variety of business sectors. These Experts mainly come from small businesses themselves and provide a free one-to-one advice session on their specialist topic.
Walk in sessions are available, however we would advise you call or email in advance to ensure availability: bipcnortheast@newcastle.gov.uk or 0191 427 1818.
