Ministers and business leaders have been given an early peek at a new British Library facility that could save entrepreneurs money.
Industry minister Alun Michael and delegates from the London Development Agency, London Chamber of Commerce, Business Link for London, Confederation of Business Industry and Patent Office were given a 'hard-hat' tour of the Library's new Business & Intellectual Property (IP) Centre, due to open in early March.
The institution is aimed at supporting entrepreneurs, inventors and creatives from their initial entrepreneurial idea through to the successful launch of their business.
Users will have free access to market research reports, industry journals, government statistics and online databases of patents, company and market sector information.
Experts will guide people to the information they need and direct them to the Library's other resources, such as the image bank, the sound archive and scientific and technical research facilities, all of which organisers say can save entrepreneurs money in the costly process of starting up.
Dr Daniel Brown, entrepreneur in residence at University College London said that if he'd had access to the centre's information at the time he was setting up his business, he could have saved £20,000 on consultants’ fees.
"Intellectual Property resources are at the heart of the Business & IP Centre's offering for entrepreneurs," said British Library chief executive Lynne Brindley.
"As we transform the Centre from a successful pilot project to a permanent national resource, we expect to become, with the help of our business partners, the first stop for entrepreneurs and innovators who wish to research, protect and market their ideas."
