This article is part of a special series on growth – where will it come from and what can be done to stimulate it?
“The only strategy for growth is to get behind Britain’s entrepreneurs.” Words spoken by British Prime Minister David Cameron as he and his government aim to establish a framework for growth.
The government’s economic policy is to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries. Last March, Secretary of State Vince Cable explained that while “there is no recipe book for growth,” the government’s central task is “to strengthen a framework in which the private sector can grow the economy out of its current problems.” Its ongoing Growth Review aims to thoroughly assess policy that may be holding back growth of investment and hiring by business – both by looking at cross-economy issues and through considering the challenges faced by particular sectors. The Plan for Growth, a report published in March, laid out four overarching ambitions: to create the most competitive tax system in the G20; to make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business; to encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy; and to create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.
It is the second of these ambitions that the British Library’s Business & Intellectual Property (IP) Centre is most concerned with. In fact, it is already there, supporting innovation by helping aspiring entrepreneurs to grow from that first spark of inspiration to successfully launching and developing a business. Now in its fifth year, the Centre, located in the British Library in St Pancras, has welcomed over 250,000 people through its doors, providing business support, advice and guidance to enthusiastic entrepreneurs and start-up businesses.
The Business & IP Centre caters to its users’ needs through a programme of workshops and events that range from speed mentoring to the high-profile Inspiring Entrepreneurs series which aims to educate and motivate aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs of the future. Guest speakers have included Lord Alan Sugar, Cath Kidston and Stelios of Eastjet fame. Start-ups and entrepreneurs can access information and advice on issues as diverse as intellectual property and patents, funding or writing a business plan.
Inspired ideas
One such user of the Centre is Jim Shaikh, founder of Yoomi, the self-warming baby feeding bottle. After many a sleepless night with a screaming baby, fumbling in the kitchen at 3am to warm the baby’s bottle, Jim was inspired to invent a self-heating baby bottle. Drawing on his engineering experience, Jim came to the Library to use the Centre’s market research collections, investigate patents and gain market intelligence. Using these tools, Jim was able to determine the feasibility of spending money on a patent as well as learn how to put together a business plan aimed at attracting investment.
Yoomi was officially launched in late 2009. Jim is now set to reach sales of over £1 million this year and his invention is stocked in John Lewis, Mothercare and Jojo Maman Bebe stores as well as branching out into the international markets, including Norway and Sweden. “The Centre enabled me to bring all that information I needed together, so that I could investigate whether it was worthwhile spending money on a patent and whether I could put together a business plan that would attract investment,” says Jim.
Jim is not alone in his success. Other users of the Business & IP Centre have developed award-winning businesses such as Dee Wright’s The Hairforce, an easy solution for nits and head lice and Antony Lau’s Cyclehoop, a bicycle parking solution. Dee won British Female Inventor and Inventor of the Year 2008 and now has a turnover of over £100,000, while Anthony’s invention can be found on lampposts across the UK.
More support available
Jim, Anthony and Dee all came to the Library for help to get their ideas and businesses off the ground, making the most of the Centre’s free workshops and programmes. And now the Centre is looking to further develop its support by rolling out a service to support businesses that have the potential to grow and are looking to get to that next stage of development. Working to support the government’s growth agenda, the Centre is in the process of negotiating funding from the European Regional Development Fund, to devise programmes and workshops that will help businesses like these take the next step.
The funding will provide intensive innovation support to ambitious companies, most of which will have already used the Centre during their start-up phase. The programme, which will officially launch in January 2012, will form a key part of the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority’s planned future enterprise strategy, which aims to help ambitious and committed Small and Medium Enterprises to grow and create high-value knowledge-based employment across London.
The British Library’s Business & IP Centre is growing with its users, helping them get to that next stage along a very bumpy road.
