£76m secured in start up loans across the region

More than £76m has been used to help launch West Midlands businesses.

Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, has delivered 8,231 loans since 2012 to new businesses. More than £29.6m of these loans, have been drawn down in the region since the pandemic began.

Top counties across the region include West Midlands County, which received more than £38m in funding, and Staffordshire which received £13m in funding. 

Of the total loans across the West Midlands, 39% have been to delivered women and 25% to people from Black, Asian and Other Ethnic Minority backgrounds (not including White Minorities).

Young people between 18-24 years old have received 18% of the loans, and 11% of the total loans made to people in the same age bracket nationally since the scheme began in 2012.

Small Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “If we are to unlock economic growth, we need to remove the barriers faced by the UK’s most innovative entrepreneurs when it comes to accessing funding and growing their business.  

“Backed by more than 8,231 loans worth more than £76.1m our most dynamic small businesses across the West Midlands have been able to tap into government support to flourish and fast-track their business ideas and innovations to market.” 

Sophie Dale-Black, Director, UK Network – Midlands and North of England said: “It’s a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of the West Midlands that we’re celebrating such a significant milestone, more than £75m, invested across the West Midlands since 2012. 

“I am particularly proud of the fact that we have been able to support such a huge volume of young aspiring business people and their start up ventures in the West, which represents 11% of the total across the entire of the UK.”

Nirmla Warwood, owner of Thatch and Stone, Walsall, West Midlands said: “I would encourage anyone who’s thinking of setting up their own business and becoming their own boss to explore the possibilities the Start Up Loans scheme has to offer. The support you receive makes a real difference.”