WM firms secure more than £76m from start-up loans
The Government-backed Start Up Loans programme has provided more than £76m to businesses across the West Midlands.
Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, announces that the programme has facilitated over 100,000 loans worth more than £941m to businesses throughout the UK.
Businesses in the West Midlands have contributed to this through 8,278 of the loans, 8.2% of those taken out across the country with the amount being worth more than £76m.
Of the 8,278 West Midlands loans, 40% have been to women and 26% 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 loans since 2012.
Current SUL Ambassador for the West Midlands, Nirmla Warwood, founder of Thatch and Stone, an interior accessories company, took out her loan of £25,000 in 2020 to start the business.
The loan enabled her to start the business but provided her with the means to expand the business rapidly where she experienced a 57% sales increase the following year in 2021.
Warwood said: “I founded Thatch and Stone in what for everyone was a time of uncertainty with the pandemic, however the process with the Start Up Loans and British Business Bank was clear and straight forward and made me feel reassured with starting this business.
“Now we are a few years in and the business is doing well with the help of what has been provided to me – 100,000 loans have now been provided and it is easy from my perspective to see why.”
Richard Bearman, managing director, Start Up Loans said: “Start Up Loans is instrumental in supporting people across the UK who are looking to start their own businesses, and passing our one hundred thousand loan milestone is an amazing achievement ten years in the making. We could not have achieved this without the dedicated support of our delivery partners, UK network or in-house team and I’d like to take this chance to thank them for everything they do to make our work possible.”
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “Reaching 100,000 Start Up Loans is an incredible achievement and shows the strength of this government’s commitment to backing small businesses.
“It’s important to remember that behind each of these loans is a business that now has the chance to grow, thrive, and prosper.
“We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our great British entrepreneurs as we pass this important milestone.”
