08 July 2019
Scotland’s first Business & IP Centre launches in Glasgow
April saw the launch of Scotland’s first Business & IP Centre outside of England, in partnership with Glasgow Life, the National Library of Scotland and Santander. Business & IP Centre Glasgow take us behind the scenes of the launch event…
The run-up to the launch was not without its challenges! Co-ordinating the diaries of the heads of service from Glasgow Life, the National Library of Scotland and the British Library was no easy feat - so we were delighted to welcome Dr Bridget McConnell (CEO Glasgow Life), Dr John Scally (CEO National Library of Scotland and National Librarian) and Roly Keating (CEO British Library) to the Mitchell Library on Friday 26 April 2019, fittingly on the same day as World IP Day, to sign the collaboration agreement to officially launch Scotland’s first Business & IP Centre in Glasgow.
Glasgow’s Centre offers local businesses and entrepreneurs access to intellectual property and business information, workshops, one-to-one advice sessions and inspiring events. Our latest evaluation showed we helped to create over 340 new businesses in the last three years with our Business @ The Mitchell service and during our pilot Business & IP Centre phase.[1]. Business & IP Centre Glasgow is delivered in partnership with the National Library of Scotland. A strategic partnership which effectively benefits Glasgow’s business community through enhanced access to business resources available from The Mitchell Library and the National Library of Scotland’s Kelvin Hall campus. Under the Business & IP Centre brand, we have been successful in attracting additional delivery partners including our first Entrepreneur in Residence, Rachel Jones (CEO of Snapdragon IP, Director of Totseat). We are also proud to be accessible and welcoming, which has encouraged a variety of users, including 68% women and 45% under 35s, with 46% of entrepreneurs describing themselves as having a social and environmental aim[2].
At the launch event, our partners and local entrepreneurs heard from our panel of speakers Dr Bridget McConnell (CEO Glasgow Life), Dr John Scally (CEO National Library of Scotland and National Librarian), Roly Keating (CEO British Library), Sue Douthwaite (MD Santander Business) and local entrepreneur Kevin Cowan (x10 Solutions), who outlined his experience of using the business information resources and services at The Mitchell to grow his business.
Another entrepreneur who has benefitted from the Centre is Annie Campbell, founder of Campbell Medical Illustrations, which was established in May 2018. After attending the introductory workshop on how to research her market and intellectual property, she had the reassurance to take her business forward, “The tools and free resources available at the Business & IP Centre Glasgow are second to none and the staff are great. I have a new sense of confidence and motivation”.
To celebrate World Intellectual Property Day we finished the launch event with an IP workshop delivered by Business & IP Centre Glasgow’s business information librarian, Tony Lyon.
Everyone at Business & IP Centre Glasgow had a fantastic time at the launch. It was great to experience the genuine enthusiasm and support for the Centre from our partners, entrepreneurs and business support organisations. Joining the network has been a positive move for us and we are looking forward to our journey as part of the Business & IP Centre National Network family as it continues to grow. It’s great to see nationally, across all Business & IP Centres that an additional 7,843 jobs have been created from the 12,288 businesses who have started up with Business & IP Centres[3].
Find out more about the services on offer click here, or follow Business & IP Centre Glasgow on Twitter.
Ruth Hunter, Partnership and Outreach Manager, Mitchell Library
[1] ERS economic impact survey of BIPC users, March 2019
[2] ERS economic impact survey of BIPC users, March 2019
[3] ERS economic impact survey of BIPC users, March 2019