British Business Bank marks 100,000 Start Up Loans milestone

Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, announces that its programme has facilitated over 100,000 loans worth more than £941 million to businesses throughout the UK. The figure marks a significant milestone for the programme since its creation in 2012.

Of the total 100,228 loans, 40% have been to women and 20% to people from Black, Asian and Other Ethnic Minority backgrounds (not including White Minorities). Young people between 18-24 years old have received 14% of loans since 2012.

The 100 thousandth loan was drawn down by James Fraser, owner of Ramen Electra in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

James’s advice for budding entrepreneurs looking to take their business to the next level is “Just start. My mantra is that a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. It is going to be challenging and you will make mistakes but have the confidence to just take the leap.”

Rose & Mary Cosmetics

In the South West, Dursley-based Rosie Amey took out a £12,000 Start Up Loan in December 2022 to launch her business, Rose & Mary Cosmetics.

Rosie Amey, South West based Start Up Loan recipient and Founder of Rose & Mary Cosmetics said: “I had always been interested in environmentalism and during lockdown I started gardening and found a new level of respect for the world around me. Before this my mentality was “what can I do?” but given the time and space I thought that perhaps if I started to make changes and do something I will be able to influence others.”

Richard Bearman, Managing Director, Start Up Loans said: “Start Up Loans supports people across the UK who are looking to start their own businesses, and passing our one hundred thousand loan milestone is an amazing achievement that has been ten years in the making. We could not have achieved this without the dedicated support of our UK Network of delivery partners, and in-house team and I’d like to take this chance to thank them for everything they do to make our work possible.”

This announcement follows the recent news that Start Up Loans has become an official partner of the StartUp Award Series 2023, as well as the launch of the British Business Bank’s Guide to Business Resilience https://www.startuploans.co.uk/business-advice/startup-loans-guide-to-business-resilience/, a guide created in response to the economic challenges faced by small businesses in 2023. Covering eight key topics for business success, the guide provides practical and actionable guidance for start-ups on what they can do to reduce costs, boost profitability, and increase the resilience of your business, whatever the future holds.