Since it was launched in the wake of the financial crisis a decade ago, the Government’s Start Up Loans scheme has helped 80,000 fledgling entrepreneurs. Tony McDonough reports

Unemployed people in Liverpool have accessed more than £1.3m via the Government’s Start Up Loans scheme to start their own ventures since it was launched in 2021, new figures show.

Since 2012, Start Up Loans has delivered over 2,900 loans to unemployed people in the North West, worth over £14.7m. Since 2012, 28% of people to have received Government-backed funding in the region were unemployed.

Launched in the wake of the financial crisis, the Start Up Loan scheme offers loans of between £500 and £25,000 at a fixed interest rate of 6%. They can be repaid over periods of one to five years and there is no early repayment fee.

People applying for the loans must be over 18 and have either been trading for under two years or are about to start a business. There is free support and guidance to help write a business plan and successful applicants get up to 12 months of free mentoring.

Start Up Loans are administered by the British Business Bank. It says that of the 80,000-plus Start Up Loans recipients across the UK since 2012, almost a third (31%) were unemployed at the time of application.

Start Up Loans data also indicates that the scheme is particularly effective in enabling young entrepreneurs to start up a business, with millennials (those currently aged 25 to 40) representing more than half (54%) of all previously unemployed loan recipients since 2012.

The Start Up Loans scheme has also seen this trend continue with the youngest generation of entrepreneurs, with double the number of Gen Z (18 to 24-year-old) applicants using the scheme as a route out of unemployment in 2020 compared to 2019.

Richard Bearman, managing director, Start Up Loans said: “Start Up Loans is uniquely positioned to drive the nation’s investment in creative, entrepreneurial talent of any age, thanks to our extensive network of delivery partners and support services.

“As well as a loan, we support individuals with the practical steps they need to take to begin their own enterprise from writing business plans, accounting and marketing, as well as access to learning with partners such as The Open University.

“It is paramount that we do everything to empower the next generation of young working talent, who have an important part to play in unlocking the UK’s economic recovery, by giving them every chance to succeed, whatever their circumstances.”