Start Up Loans expands remit

The biggest hurdle for new business starts is without a doubt, accessing appropriate finance.

The last few years have been tough for both parties, the new business start up and the financiers; with traditional forms of finance not being quite as easy to access. This is one of the reasons the government launched the Start Up Loans scheme.

A private company established as part of a government funding initiative, The Start Up Loans Company provides start up support in the form of a repayable personal loan and a business mentor for new starts across the UK.

Backed by James Caan, who is the chairman of the Start Up Loans Company, Lord Young, who created the scheme, identified that if entrepreneurialism was the same in Britain as in the USA, we could potentially have 900,000 more jobs across the UK.

Since that time the Start Up Loans Company has lent close to £95m to 19,000 businesses across the UK. Business & Enterprise Trust, which is a delivery partner across Lancashire and indeed the North West has this year £2.2m to lend to start ups across the county and beyond.