Resources for Inventors in South East England

South East England consists of the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. The region covers just under 19,096 square kilometres and has a population of just over 8 million.

Regional Development

The regional development agency for the region is the SEEDA (South East England Development Agency). This will be abolished with all the other agencies by the end of March in 2012. Proposals for local enterprise partnerships have been accepted for the following areas:

• Coast to Capital: Brighton, Croydon, Gatwick Triangle, East Sussex and Surrey;
• Enterprise M3 (North East Hampshire and West Surrey)
• Kent and Greater Essex and East Sussex
• Oxfordshire City Region
• Solent
• Thames Valley and Berkshire

Business Angels

There are no less than 4 angel networks:

• Finance South East
• Ground Floor Ventures
• Kent Investor Club
• Thames Valley Investment Network

Clinics

A clinic is run by local patent agents at Southampton Central Library on the last Wednesday of the month between 17:00 and 19:00. Local inventors can also access NIPC Clinics through our website or call us on 023 9316 2030.

Community Development Finance Institutions

There are no less than 5 Community Development Finance Institutions in South East England:

• Capitalise Business Support
• Frederick's Foundation
• Hastings Trust
• Isle of Wight Lottery
• South Coast Moneyline

Inventors Club

The Wessex Round Table of Inventors is based in Southampton. It holds regular monthly meetings and offers advice on funding, IP, licensing, marketing and other matters. It also has an excellent blog and website.

Libraries

Portsmouth Central Library is the only PATLib library in the region. However, clinics are held not there but in Southampton.

Professional Advice

We are building up a network of local patent and trade mark attorneys, specialist solicitors and other professionals in South East England. You can access that network by calling us on 023 9316 2030.

Further Information

We have a page on inventors resources in the South East on the Inventors Club website which we shall update and expand as and when we can. We have an Inventors Club Group on Linkedin and you can of course join the Inventors' Club. The rules are here and use this form to join.