NEW BUSINESS CENTRE IN ELY LIBRARY WILL OFFER A ‘ONE STOP’ HUB FOR ALL THINGS BUSINESS, EDUCATION, TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS! The Business & IP Centre (BIPC) Cambridgeshire & Peterborough officially launched its BIPC Local hub at Ely Library on Monday 28 March. This was the first launch event of the week with Wisbech, Huntingdon and Peterborough coming online in the following days. The Ely launch, which was well attended by key local stakeholders, partners, and entrepreneurs, was declared open by Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Dr Nik Johnson. The event offered an opportunity for local businesses to find out what support was being made available locally through partners such as Venner Shipley, Growth Works, NatWest, Price Bailey, Fraser Dawbarns, Cambridgeshire Skills, Ely Cathedral Business Group, FSB and Bishop Laney Sixth Form. The BIPC launch also marked the collaboration going forward for a business and community centre based in the library. This new initiative has brought together stakeholders from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Skills Service, the Adult Skills Service, East Cambridgeshire District Council, business organisations, including the Chambers of Commerce, Ely Cathedral Business Group (ECBG) and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), local schools and local recruitment companies. This will be the ‘one stop’ hub for all things business, education, training, and qualifications. Please watch this space for the programme of events soon to be announced. The Business & IP Centre Cambridgeshire & Peterborough has been supporting businesses since 2019. In that time, they’ve had over 1300 interactions with local entrepreneurs through a rich variety of webinars, workshops and oneto-one business and intellectual property advice sessions. The Network has a strong track record of supporting local economies, and in 2019 an independent economic evaluation showed the BIPC was creating £6.95 of public value for every £1 invested, and in the three years to 2019 supported the creation of 12,288 new businesses,
55 per cent of which were started by female entrepreneurs and some 31 per cent by BAME entrepreneurs. Gary Porter, Head of Libraries, Archives and Culture at Cambridgeshire County Council, said “We are delighted to announce that we are expanding throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by adding 'BIPC Local' sites in Ely, Wisbech, Huntingdon and Peterborough libraries to sit alongside our Regional Centre in Cambridge Central Library. The geographical spread across our County will make the service even more accessible to those that need it. We’re looking forward to watching our future businesses start and grow in the coming months.” The Business & IP Centre Local in Ely Library is delivered in partnership between the British Library, Business & IP Centre Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and the council’s Library Services team. It forms part of the Business & IP Centre National Network, delivered in libraries across the country, providing business advice and support to local entrepreneurs to start, protect and grow their business. Get in touch to see how BIPC Cambridgeshire & Peterborough can help you to start, protect and grow your business. Katrina D'Souza Katrina.d'Souza@cambridgeshire.gov.uk, BIPC Cambridgeshire County Council or Debbie Price Debbie.Price@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Cambridgeshire Library Service www.elyimagazine.com | Elyi Magazine | 61
