BIPC North East: Our journey so far
The Business & IP Centre North East is part of the national BIPC network, all operating from within Libraries. We are a free source of information and advice for inventors, start-up businesses, and existing businesses based in the North East of England.
Originally established in 2011 as BIPC Newcastle, we were the country’s first regional Business & IP Centre providing a service for the North East business community.
BIPC North East Regional & Local Centres
Now operating as BIPC North East, BIPC Newcastle (located at Newcastle City Library) remains our regional centre. BIPC Newcastle coordinates and supports the activities of 6 newly launched BIPC Local Centres, which are located across the width and breadth of our proud & diverse region:
- Berwick Library: Northumberland
- Morpeth Library: Northumberland
- Hexham Library: Northumberland
- Sunderland Libraries Services: Sunderland
- North Shields Library: North Tyneside
- South Shields ‘The Word’: South Tyneside
BIPC North East also provides a service offering within Gateshead Libraries. Whether you are an existing business or just starting out, be rest assured that BIPC North East will be there to support you throughout your business journey.
How can we help support your business?
We have an array of free and accessible online & offline resources enabling both new & existing businesses to grow from strength to strength. Visit our centres or drop us a line to find out more: bipcnortheast@newcastle.gov.uk
Experts in Residence
We have a friendly and knowledgeable team of 30+ local experts who are on hand to offer free 1-2-1 appointments to discuss a wide range of topics suitable to your business needs, ranging from finance and funding, marketing and communication, intellectual property and law and much more.
Market Intelligence
Book an appointment today and explore free to access market research and business information essential to your own business journey. Use insightful databases including COBRA, GRANTfinder and Mintel to access company stats, delve into the latest market trends and consumer behaviours, find out about the latest funding opportunities, and scope out your competition!
Intellectual Property
Do you have an idea or invention but are unsure how to go about protecting it? Our helpful and insightful team have 30 years’ experience of providing intellectual property advice to North-East innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs and more than happy to help your business understand the most suitable forms of IP protection.
The team also deliver IP Surgeries which are held twice weekly, by appointment in order to help businesses understand further the different types of IP protection available, along with next steps to protecting IP assets.
Free Events
Take advantage of our free events programme in which we deliver a wide variety of events activity, focussing on a broad range of topics, suitable for start-ups and existing businesses; delivered by the BIPC network and Experts, along with supporting partners.*
*Whilst most events are held at Newcastle City Library, we do deliver from venues across the region. Due to COVID-19, we have been delivering online events, however we hope to re-commence events and workshops later in 2021.
