Start Up Loans are offered by the British Business Bank, which is a government-backed economic development bank. The goal is to help aspiring entrepreneurs realise their ambition to start and grow their business.
Start Up Loans
Start or grow your own business
- Personal loans for business purposes
- Borrow from £500 up to £25,000
- Fixed interest rate of 6% per year
- Repay over a term of 1–5 years
- 12 months of free post loan support
- Government-backed
The programme provides loans of between £500 and £25,000 at a fixed rate of 6% to new entrepreneurs, and you repay over a period of one to five years, depending on your circumstances. Full details of eligibility can be found here.
40% of loans to date have been awarded to women
The support from Start Up loans offered goes beyond just financial, it also provides support services throughout the application process and once you obtain the loan. This means applicants can expect help in preparing their business plan and cash flow forecasts, and if successful, a dedicated post loan support service which includes mentoring and access to an online learning platform for 12 months in order to help successful applicants with every aspect of setting up a business.
The Start Up Loans programme is also partnered with The Open University, where they provide a range of free courses ideal for people who are going into business for the first time. The courses provide rich information covering subjects such as: entrepreneurship, career and leadership, finance accounting, sustainability, and project management.
Start Up Loans, whilst available to all entrepreneurs, has a long history of providing financial support to women who want to start and grow their own businesses. Since the start of the programme in 2012, 40% of the loans approved (over 40,000) have gone to female founders. One of these is the founder of Caru Spirits, Emily Richards:
Emily Richards took out a £25,000 Start Up Loan to launch her business that makes sustainably produced brandy liqueur for distribution to local markets, online alcohol retailers including Amazon, and independent shops in Wales such as the Loafley Bakery and Deli in Tenby. The Start Up Loan helped Emily pay for the upfront costs of producing liqueur, including the wine and ingredients needed to make the brandy, the barrels, packaging, the company’s website and design.
It is this form of comprehensive support, as well as the loan itself, that Emily found invaluable.
If you are interested in starting and growing your business just as Emily did, then you can find out more and register for a Start Up Loan using the links below.
“I had the business concept in my head, and it was really valuable to have someone to bounce ideas off… I don’t know if I would have gone ahead and launched Caru Spirits if the Start Up Loan programme wasn’t such a supportive experience”
Emily Richards, founder of Caru Spirts
