Business

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We help businesses to innovate and grow.

Knowledge matters to a competitive economy: without free access to timely, accurate information, and the expert advice needed to interpret and act upon it, too many businesses fail in their earliest stages. Our commitment to support industry was at the heart of the Library’s founding Act half a century ago, and it feels more relevant now than ever before. Our users range from the large corporations who access hard-to-find research papers from our On Demand service to the enterprising individuals who walk into one of our network of Business & IP Centres (BIPCs) in regional and local public libraries.

Our priorities:

  • sustain our expanded Business & IP Centre network so that we can support entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds across the UK, including those in our local neighbourhoods
  • provide start-ups, businesses and social enterprises with the knowledge they need to contribute to the UK’s goal of sustainable economic growth and a net zero economy
  • work with partners to ensure that the businesses we support benefit from access to relevant expertise in ethical AI and other advances in technology.

Portfolios

These five major transformation programmes show how we're achieving our Knowledge Matters vision.

Everyone Engaged

Our mission is to make our intellectual heritage available to everyone for research, inspiration and enjoyment.

Everything Available

We're modernising our support for researchers of all kinds.

St Pancras Transformed

We're expanding the British Library’s campus in St Pancras, London.

Heritage Made Digital

We will transform digital access to our collections of heritage materials.

Boston Spa Renewed

We're developing our Boston Spa site to meet the information management challenges of the 21st century.