£67m worth of loans have been given to West Midlands start-ups
£819m has been invested by the British Business Bank into start-ups since 2012.
Its subsidiary, The Start-Up Loans Company has delivered more than 7,500 loans to West Midlands businesses worth £67m and Cod of Duty was one of them.
Following redundancy, Matthew Martin and his wife Corina Martin launched the business, a mobile fish and chips food truck in December 2020 using two £17,000 Start-Up Loans.
On their first day of opening, the products sold out within 30 minutes with customers queuing around the block. Now, after a year of trading, the couple wants to expand into more villages.
Mr Martin said: “During the pandemic, I worked on the frontline as a chef for those building the nightingale hospital. In August, the company made changes to the contracts meaning myself and Corina were down £5k.
“We were fed up with our hard work and talent not even getting a thank you.
“The loan gave us the push we needed. It’s made all our dreams come true. It enabled us to buy a van, all of our equipment and stock to get us up and running. Cod of Duty would still be an idea without it.”
The Start-Up Loans programme provides personal loans for business purposes. Since its conception, it has provided 90,000 loans worth £819m. Applicants can receive up to £25,000 at a 6% fixed interest rate per annum and can also have free mentoring for 12 months.
Since 2012, 30% of loans went to people that were unemployed or economically inactive. Two-fifths were women and 20% were from ethnic minorities.
The programme provided 11,408 in 2020/21 with a total value of £137.2m. The bank says the economic benefits of the loan are 5.7 times its economic cost.
The British Business Bank says it aims to ensure that early-stage businesses have access to support in order to succeed. Funding is provided by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). At the spending review in 2021, the Chancellor announced its aim to provide 33,000 Start-Up Loans over the next three years.
