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The London Development Agency, the Mayor of London's agency for business and jobs, has awarded the British Library £1 million to transform its Business & Intellectual Property Centre from a successful pilot project to a permanent resource. The Centre offers arguably the largest collection of market research reports in the world, free access to on-line subscription databases giving up-to-the-minute company information and financial news, and access to the Library's extensive intellectual property resources, including its collection of 50 million patents. In the 12 months since it opened, over 25,000 researchers and business people have used the Centre, which is located at the main British Library site at St Pancras. The Library is targeting this service at SMEs, entrepreneurs and innovators ¿ including black and minority ethnic businesses and businesses led by women and those with disabilities ¿ in London and beyond. It will be seeking commercial funding for future phases. Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: "London is the knowledge capital of the world and the British Library has an unrivalled global reputation for its quality and comprehensiveness as an information resource. The Business & Intellectual Property Centre will help ensure the full extent of the Library's expertise is readily available to the business community to help it research, devise, launch and manage new projects ¿ benefiting the London and UK economy." Manny Lewis, CEO of the London Development Agency, said: "The Business & Intellectual Property Centre project is a key component of the LDA's strategy of delivering innovation support to SMEs. Our investment will act as a catalyst to leverage the world class resources of the British Library which will help to maximise the productivity and innovation potential of London's enterprises". Sir Digby Jones, Director General, CBI, said: "SMEs are major driving forces in the economy; amongst them are the major corporations of the future. The British Library's Business & Intellectual Property Centre is an example of an initiative that will enable SMEs to grow and prosper, providing support from inspiration through to commercialising and growing their business." Lynne Brindley, British Library Chief Executive, stated: "This LDA cash injection, together with the Library's existing investment, will enable us to greatly enhance our Business & Intellectual Property Centre services. As a result, we can deliver that critical support during the start up phase to small businesses and entrepreneurs in London and the UK." This first phase of the Centre is due to be complete in Spring 2006 and will offer: State-of-the-art meeting rooms to host a series of workshops run by leading British Library and business experts on subjects including: using intellectual property resources to check if ideas are novel, capitalising on market research resources, marketing and selling skills, financing and pinpointing customers. These will also include creative workshops and legal updates. A networking area for SMEs to meet and network with other SMEs, find out about the Library's full range of services and get inspiration from success stories about products and services conceived by other Centre users. Wireless internet access (WiFi) so users can connect to the internet and access e-mail from the Centre by using either their existing service provider or by using the Library's own pay-as-you-go service Library information experts trained in the needs of SMEs and entrepreneurs to guide users to the full range of resources Large-scale events with successful role models to inspire, entertain and guide SMEs on setting up and running a successful business and for SMEs to network. Examples include the sell out ¿Mothers of Invention' and the 'Silk Road to Success' Asian Business events. A trusted service supporting SMEs and entrepreneurship from concept to commercialisation.
Users of the Centre will also have access to the British Library's other collections, such as images and sound to enhance their creative output, scientific and technical literature to research and develop products and services, electoral registers and demographics for researching trends. Users can also use the Library's exhibitions, café and restaurant. This initiative continues the British Library's contribution to supporting the UK economy and, specifically here, supporting businesses. In December 2003, the results of a research study estimating the British Library's impact on the UK economy ¿ the first of its kind ever carried out by a major UK cultural institution were released. The 2003 study showed ¿ taking conservative estimates ¿ that for every £1 of public funds the Library receives it generates over £4 of value to the UK economy.
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