IT'S meant to be a place where the business community can share ideas and soak up important knowledge.
Next year, Newcastle’s City Library is to welcome a Business and IP Centre, a regional space where entrepreneurs can mingle, receive advice and gather information. It’s an idea that’s been developed with a nod to the British Library’s Business and IP Centre in St Pancras, which has been visited by over 250,000 people since it opened its doors in 2006. The London centre provides access to business and intellectual property information, as well as information about new markets and time with “librarians” trained to help visitors find and use the information to fulfil their aims.
The concept of putting a centre in Newcastle came following a feasibility study conducted on behalf of the British Library, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, Newcastle City Council and Northumbria University.
At the moment, the project is going ahead without funding from The British Library, although the organisation has said it will provide “extensive support, advice and training” to the staff. However, it could become more ambitious if an application to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund is successful. This could mean a project with wider scope in Newcastle, as well as a possible roll-out in six cities in the Midlands, North and North East.
The British Library hopes to roll something out into regional city libraries which can “transform them into entrepreneurial hubs which will play a key role in helping to re-balance the UK economy”. Likewise, Newcastle City Council and Newcastle Science City are campaigning to get the resources needed for a resource in Newcastle that could really invigorate the region.
They’re pushing for a “coherent and substantial network” to be put in place next year, and as a result they’re laying the groundwork with a series of free events under the Science of Success banner. The opening event at Newcastle City Library from 6pm this coming Monday will see Content and Calm founder and Dragons’ Den alumnus Solvej Biddle give advice to budding entrepreneurs.
It’s an initiative that appeals to Victoria Browning, who emerged from Newcastle Science City’s Innovation Machine scheme with a business called 2pure Products. 2pure offers a new range of freshener products for pets. She said: “It’s incredibly important that Newcastle and the North East in general supports entrepreneurs in trying to develop innovative businesses in the coming years. It’s a hard slog developing a new product and taking it to market; you have to be an instant expert on everything from patenting to pitching, marketing and PR – all on a shoestring budget with not enough hours in the day.”
Chris Quickfall started Invate to support disabled people in education and employment, and is launching a new venture called e-Quality Learning. He will also be involved with the Science of Success events. He said: “The wide selection of topics is a very important part of the series, as everyone sets up a company with a different set of skills, and therefore has different gaps of knowledge to plug. I launched my first company immediately after university so needed a lot of support, and with e-Quality Learning I’ll take advantage of the workshop flexibility to improve specific skills related to this new business model. The Science of Success series will provide individuals across the region with bitesize chunks of education to fill business knowledge gaps. It will also give business people the opportunity to meet like minded people, as I always found I learnt as much from the actual people who attended the sessions as the businesses coaches themselves.”
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