Record year for business centres supporting entrepreneurs in Mansfield and Ashfield

Business and IP Centre Nottinghamshire (BIPC) has seen a dramatic increase in activity, with 469 instances of business support delivered between January and March 2022 alone, following the recruitment of a team of advisors and recent openings of four BIPC locals in Mansfield, Sutton, Bulwell and Beeston libraries.

Liz Jolly, chief librarian, British Library, said: “Over the last year, the BIPC network has hugely outperformed its growth targets and helped to safeguard thousands of jobs through the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.

"We know that businesses started with the support of our libraries are nearly twice as likely to survive beyond three years than the national average. These remarkable results are living proof of the part libraries can and are playing towards boosting their local economies.”

Coun Pavlos Kotsonis, portfolio holder for Leisure, Culture and Planning at Nottingham City Council, said: “With the recent launch of our BIPC local in Bulwell, it is exciting and positive that libraries can now play a new role in terms of harnessing the potential of businesses and make an important contribution to economic regeneration. It now is up to us to make the most of the great resources available through our BIPC local and encourage as many people as possibly to take advantage of what they can offer.

"We are delighted our offer has now expanded to Nottinghamshire and look forward to sharing the BIPC programme with Inspire Libraries so we can bring our strategies and service offerings closer together.

“There’s no such person as a typical entrepreneur. Coming through the doors of our libraries are people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

"Expectant mothers, young people, elderly people, those who are out of work, people with disabilities, graduates, those with no qualifications at all. Anyone with a business idea - irrespective of their circumstance or background - is welcome to use our services and get help to get started or grow."