The British Business Bank has expanded its loans programme for start-up firms in Wales.
The UK Government’s economic development bank, which has a UK-wide remit to provide loans and equity to firms, said the start up loans programme will now be available to businesses trading for up to three years.
It will also start offering second loans to businesses that have been trading for up to five years.
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The programme, which previously provided finance to start ups which had been trading for up to two years, offers personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 at a 6% fixed interest rate per annum. It also offers 12 months mentoring.
However, the expansion follows the 2021/22 Spending Review where the government committed to providing 33,000 loans to the programme over the next three years.
The scheme has already delivered over 4,300 loans worth more than £43m to businesses in Wales since being set up in 2012.
Breakdown of start up loans by region up to 31 August
UK Region |
Loans Made |
Amount Lent (£) |
Average Loan Amount (£) |
East Midlands |
5,468 |
49,820,763 |
9,111 |
East of England |
6,893 |
65,561,712 |
9,511 |
Isle of Man |
3 |
12,500 |
4,167 |
London |
20,474 |
187,085,791 |
9,138 |
North East |
5,313 |
48,138,743 |
9,061 |
North West |
12,019 |
108,464,154 |
9,024 |
Northern Ireland |
1,495 |
12,764,845 |
8,538 |
Scotland |
6,309 |
55,574,315 |
8,809 |
South East |
9,626 |
97,040,179 |
10,081 |
South West |
8,328 |
75,798,566 |
9,102 |
Wales |
4,376 |
43,526,310 |
9,947 |
West Midlands |
8,031 |
73,671,613 |
9,173 |
Yorkshire and The Humber |
8,490 |
81,181,195 |
9,562 |
Region not obtained |
444 |
5,478,723 |
12,339 |
Grand Total |
97,269 |
904,119,406 |
9,295 |
One recipient of funding in Wales is Victoria Griffin, founder of Goji Hair in Cardiff, who received a combined loan of £18,700 to launch her organic hair salon.
Ms Griffin took out a £3,700 loan in 2015 before taking out a second loan of £15,000 to be able to move to a larger salon to cater to her growing client base.
She said: “Start Up Loans was instrumental in kick-starting Goji Hair, and the mentoring support provided us with fantastic financial insight to ensure our accounts were in order from day one. Having a second loan option available is brilliant, and means small businesses are able to grow, particularly after the challenges of the last few years.
“I’d encourage aspiring Welsh business owners to explore all finance options available to them, including the second loan for growing businesses, and to make the most of the support that’s available through the scheme.”
Susan Nightingale, devolved nations director at UK Network, said: “We are delighted to be able to extend the reach of the Start Up Loans programme to help support businesses, including those who need extra support during a challenging economic environment.
“This extension of the programme will enable us to work with those businesses that had perhaps just got going when the pandemic hit or are ready to consolidate and grow their businesses now that they are back on their feet. We want to ensure that these businesses do not get left behind.
“We have always been committed to providing support and funding to smaller businesses across Wales, with entrepreneurial ambitions across all industry sectors. Having delivered more than £43m in loans to Wales alone highlights our continued efforts to help people from diverse backgrounds achieve their business goals.”
Martin McTague, national chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The small business community shrank by 400,000 in the first year of the pandemic.
"As the new Government focuses heavily on economic growth and supporting enterprise, a major element of that will be encouraging a new wave of start-ups - the next generation of entrepreneurs from every diverse background, in all our local communities. So we welcome today’s announcement as it will help more people to start-up, and scale-up.”
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “From its proud industrial heritage through to the thriving life sciences, aerospace, and services sectors of today, Wales has long been recognised as a brilliant place for business.
“In the past decade, we have backed thousands of Welsh small businesses with Start Up Loans totalling £42million, but we want to go further, expanding the scheme to build further jobs and prosperity.”
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