Resources for Inventors in the West Midlands

The region known as "the West Midlands" consists of

• the metropolitan county of the West Midlands with its metropolitan boroughs of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton,
• the shire counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire and
• the unitary authorities of Hereforshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Stoke-on-Trent.

The region covers an area of just over 13,000 square kilometres and has a population of 5.27 million.

Regional Development

The regional development agency for the West Midlands is Advantage West Midlands. This will be abolished with all the other RDA by March 2012. However, proposals for local enterprise partnerships have been accepted for:

• Birmingham and Solihull with East Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth
• Black Country
• Coventry and Warwickshire
• Stoke and Stafforshire
• The Marches, and
• Worcestershire.

Angels

There are at least two local business angel networks:

• Central England Business Angels ("CEBA") of Henley in Arden; and
• MINERVA of the University of Warwick University science park.

Clinics

Local patent attorneys offer free consultations at Birmingham Central Library in conjunction. NIPC Clinics will also introduce inventors and their investors, lenders and professional advisors to local patent and trade mark attorneys, business advisors, product design consultants, lawyers and others.

Community Development Finance Institutions

There are at least 6 community development finance institutions in the West Midlands:

• Aston Reinvestment Trust of Birmingham;
• Black Country Reinvestment Society of Wolverhampton Science Park;
• Coventry & Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust;
• East Lancs Moneyline of Staffordshire;
• Impetus Rural Reinvstment in the Marches; and
• StreetUK of Birmingham.

Inventors Clubs

There are inventors clubs in Birmingham, Kingswinford and Malvern.

Professional Advice

Members of NIPC West Midlands offer specialist advice and advocacy on intellectual property, information technology, telecommunications, media, entertainment and competition law. We can be reached on 0121 286 1551 or through our national contact form.

Further Information

Further information on inventors resources in the West Midlands will be published on the Inventors Club website.