BIPC | Brighton Chamber

Start, grow and protect your business with support from the Business & IP Centre

Located on the first floor of Jubilee Library in Brighton, the Business & IP Centre (BIPC) Brighton & Hove offers free support to entrepreneurs, start-ups and small to medium-sized enterprises across the whole of Sussex.

From that first spark of inspiration to successfully launching and developing your business, they can help you find the information and resources you need to make your business, charitable organization, career transition, or artistic enterprise set for success.

BIPC Brighton & Hove is the regional centre of BIPC Sussex, which is part of the National Network of BIPCs located in city libraries, established by the British Library.

As one of the aims of the National Network of BIPCs is to diversify and democratize entrepreneurship, they extend a particularly warm welcome to community members who typically have much lower rates of self-employment, including women founders and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and individuals with disabilities.

Here's how the Business & IP Centre can help you:

One-to-one business support

Discuss your business idea or business support needs in confidence with trained staff who can help you find the information and resources you need - or refer you to a local business expert for a one-to-one session. No matter how developed your idea is or in which sector you operate, they can signpost you to the help you need to grow and flourish your business.

If you would like to find out more about the help available, email BIPC@brighton-hove.gov.uk or to book a one-to-one session, visit their Eventbrite page.

Business information databases

To help you research your business idea, understand your market and customers, or keep track of your competitors, the BIPC offer free access to over £5m worth of online business databases with information on business profiles, market research, statistics, company information, local and regional analysis and funding.

Their databases:

Careers, Funding & Business News: COBRA, GRANTfinder
Company Research: Fame
Market Research: IBIS World, Mintel, EMIS, Statista

Find out more about the databases and how you can access them.

Webinars & workshops

Both current and prospective business owners can attend a programme of free webinars and workshops each month on topics that matter to businesses, from marketing, funding and finance to legalities, business growth and IP, delivered by local business experts and the BIPC team. The BIPC team also runs bitesize webinars on each of their databases to help you gain confidence in using them.

Visit their Eventbrite page for all upcoming events.

Intellectual Property (IP) support

You may not have thought that you have Intellectual Property (IP) that you need to protect, but whether it’s an invention, or a brand name, protecting your IP can save you lots of time and money. The BIPC offers one-to-one IP information sessions and webinars to assist with copyright, patenting, patent search, trademark, and registered design questions. They can also connect you with a local IP legal expert who can answer more detailed IP queries.

If you would like to find out more about their IP support, email BIPC@brighton-hove.gov.uk or book a one-to-one IP information session on their Eventbrite page.

Networking

The BIPC run monthly free online and in-person networking events to help you meet other like-minded entrepreneurs to exchange ideas, share your challenges and gain support from each other. In addition, if you are working from home and need a change of scenery, you can work on your business in their BIPC spaces at Jubilee and also network with other entrepreneurs there.

To book your space for their networking events, visit their Eventbrite page.