Business in the Arts:North West  (BIA:NW) exists both to help the arts and to provide development opportunities for business managers.

BIA:NW -

• provides practical ways of supporting the arts and museums
• provides tried and tested ways for business managers and professionals to volunteer
• provides development opportunities for volunteers
• provides opportunities for community involvement

Business in the Arts began in 1988 as an initiative of the Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts, now renamed Arts & Business, and runs a number of schemes known collectively as the Professional Development Programmes. The North West office opened in 1990 and there is now a network of offices providing these services across the UK, some Arts & Business and some, like BIA:NW, independent.

Currently offices exist in Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Cardiff, Eastleigh, Edinburgh, Halifax, Inverness, London, Newcastle, Nottingham and Oxford as well as BIA:NW’s Liverpool office.

BIA:NW covers Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside which is the remit of BIA:NW’s primary funder, North West Arts Board.

Business in the Arts:North West is registered as a charity number 1046901, and also a company limited by guarantee, number 2508104. In order to work with cultural organisations not registered as charities, a non profit distributing trading company has been established, BIA:NW Trading Limited, registered number 3084710.