• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Thursday February 15 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

British Business Bank provides £7.5 million of finance to 1,000 Gen Z entrepreneurs in the South West

£7.5 million of Start Up Loans have been provided to entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 24 in the South West, according to new figures released by the British Business Bank.

And the bank said it had lent 15,000 loans worth over £100 million to under 25s UK-wide since the Start Up Loans was launched in 2012.

The bank said 1,008 young entrepreneurs in the South West had benefited from the scheme. 113 loans worth £683,000 were made in Bristol, 134 totalling £997,000 in Somerset, and 91, worth £794,000, were given to applicants in Wiltshire.

Of those to receive a Start Up Loan across the UK, the most popular industries to launch a business in include retail (£8.5 million), hospitality (£5.8 million) and arts and entertainment (£2.5 million).

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 six per cent per annum and repay the loan over one to five years. The programme also provides 12 months of free business mentoring.

The funding milestone comes as the Start Up Loans programme launches a new information campaign aimed at students considering entrepreneurship as a career option so they can make their business dreams a reality.

Steve Conibear, UK Network Director South West at the British Business Bank said: “It’s amazing to see people in their late teens and early twenties with such ‘can-do’ attitudes and motivation to achieve success in working life.

“Our £100 million funding milestone is a significant landmark and testament to the hard work of Start Up Loans and its business support partners, in giving people with a good business idea, no matter their age, the chance to access the funding needed to bring it to life.

“We’re determined to keep backing aspirational young people with money and mentoring.”

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 £100 million in government backed finance and we’re not stopping there.”