UK Start Up Loans drive passes major milestone

THE Start Up Loans programme from the British Business Bank has exceeded the £100m lending milestone to business owners aged 18-24 since it was launched in 2012.

The economic regeneration back of the UK, this has seen 15,000 loans, with 606 in Wales with a value of just over £5m.

Outside London, the North West has received the highest volume of loans (1,992), followed by the West Midlands (1,591) and the South East (1,291). London has received 3,099 loans in total since 2012.

The funding for young entrepreneurs, which totals just over £110m, comes as the Start Up Loans programme launches a new information campaign aimed at students considering entrepreneurship.

The British Business Bank, the economic regeneration bank of the UK Government, said Start Up Loans exist to provide loans to groups in society who would otherwise struggle to access finance from traditional lenders. Alongside students, people not in education, employment or training (NEET) also fall into this category.

Of all the loans distributed to entrepreneurs under 25, 39% have gone to female business owners and 24% to business owners from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Small Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “Every large firm started off as a small business and today’s aspiring young entrepreneurs could be the next success story. I urge them to explore how a Start Up Loan could launch their ambitions today.

“Through the British Business Bank, and the Help to Grow campaign, we’ve backed the next generation of business leaders with over £100m in governmentbacked finance and we’re not stopping there.”

Richard Bearman, managing director, small business lending, British Business Bank, said: “It’s amazing to see people in their late teens and early twenties with such motivation.

“Our £100 million funding milestone is a significant landmark and testament to the hard work of Start Up Loans.”

The Start Up Loans programme helps people start or grow their business and is part of the government-owned British Business Bank’s remit to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses. They can borrow up to £25,000 at a fixed interest rate of 6% per annum and repay the loan over one to five years. The programme also provides 12 months of free mentoring.