Kicking off the New Year and aiming to kick start small businesses, Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a £30m expansion to the StartUp loans scheme for young entrepreneurs.
The additional money will boost the total pot for Start-Up loans to over £110 million over the next three years. Due to demand from those who had just missed out on the scheme, and the challenges faced to secure loans to start a business, the age limit for application will now be extended from 24 to 30 years old.
Over 3000 people have applied or registered an interest in a Start-Up loan; these budding entrepreneurs receive support and mentoring to develop their ideas. When the business plan is robust and approved, they will be able to access financial support in the form of a low interest loan (RPI plus%), typically in the order of £2,500 with a repayment period of up to five years.
In the three months that the scheme has been live over £1.5 million worth of loans have been approved, helping over 460 new businesses get off the ground. Around 100 new businesses a week are expected to reach approval stage in January, with thousands more in the months ahead.
David Cameron said of the scheme “Start-Up loans are an important part of my mission to back aspiration, and all those young people who want to work hard and get on in life. They are a great way to help this next generation of entrepreneurs get the financial help – and the confidence – to turn that spark of an idea, into a growing, thriving business”.
If you’ve not yet started your business and are looking for some finance to kick start your idea you can apply for a StartUp loan online.
