Waltham Forest and Haringey entrepreneurs and budding businesses owners will soon benefit from a new service offering support and advice to start-ups and fledgling businesses in the boroughs.

Start-ups in London Libraries (SiLL), a new 3-year pilot project, will deliver free and low-cost business support to entrepreneurs in Haringey and Waltham Forest in the boroughs' libraries.

The boroughs will receive funding via the European Regional Development Fund for the SiLL project, with match funding from the British Library and the Boroughs and support from Arts Council England and J.P. Morgan.

The project is led by the British Library’s Business & IP Centre and will provide walk-in access to a vast range of business information resources as well as dedicated, face-to-face support for start-up entrepreneurs – all free of charge.
The centres will be offering quarterly workshops and business support services as well as hosting local events for entrepreneurs and creating a network of peer support. The project launches across the 10 selected London Boroughs on 2 May, with the first Haringey workshops being held on 11 and 12 June.

Specialist training will be given to librarians, who will work alongside newly-appointed SME Champions to deliver a regular programme of free and low-cost workshops together with face-to-face advice and confidential business information sessions.

The SiLL project is modelled on the British Library’s successful National Network of 13 Business and IP Centres in major city libraries across the UK, which since April 2018, has helped an average of 60 people per day to become entrepreneurs.
The programme seeks to remove barriers and challenges to entrepreneurship within some of London’s most diverse communities. Last year, 60% of people who used the Business & IP Centre and the National Network were women, around 40% were from a BAME background, and 10% had a disability or learning difficulty.

Zina Etheridge, Haringey Council’s Chief Executive, said: "I am delighted that Haringey has been chosen as one of the London boroughs to pilot the Start-ups in London Libraries scheme.

"This project will ensure that crucial business advice and support is made available to a wider, more diverse range of people and will help Haringey residents turn their visions into successful and sustainable businesses."

Roly Keating, chief executive of the British Library, said: "For the past 13 years, our Business & IP Centre has worked tirelessly to try and democratise entrepreneurship across the country.

"From fashion designers to digital innovators and social enterprises tackling homelessness in our capital, the wonderfully eclectic cohort of businesses that we have supported through our National Network shows that all libraries have the potential to be hubs where ideas of any kind, dreamt up by anyone, can become a reality.

"We are delighted to be awarded ERDF funding to continue breaking down barriers to entrepreneurship across some of London’s most diverse communities."

Haringey and Waltham Forest are among ten boroughs in the pilot.