New businesses finding it difficult to get traditional funding can Build Back Better with The Start Up Loans Company.
The Government-backed programme is run by The British Business Bank, and has just passed a major milestone with £600 million worth of loans granted outside London since 2012. The East of England received a total 6,106 of these loans valued at over £55m.
Start Up Loans provides mentoring, support and funding to aspiring business owners, and have been very useful for individuals who might find it difficult to secure loans from traditional lenders.
One such company is record label Trapped Animal Records, from Cambridge, founded by musician Joel Clayton and two colleagues. They received a loan through delivery partner Transmit Start-Ups.
Joel said: “We called it Trapped Animal as a nod to how it we had all felt as touring musicians who find themselves working a job, following weeks playing music in places like Germany or at UK festivals, drinking fine beer and meeting lovely people, only to be sat in the grey towers of Central London’s financial district, 24 hours after feeling like a rock star for a week!
“The ethos of the label is to emancipate musicians from all backgrounds and socio-economic groups and help them reach ears they would not reach without us, and to experience things that would be withheld by less courageous minds in the industry.”
Small Business Minister Paul Scully added: “There is so much creativity and dynamism in East Anglia and across the UK, but without access to funding and support it’s difficult to fully unlock the entrepreneurial spirit that makes this country great.
“Cambridge is a global byword for innovation and excellence having given the world the telescope, the webcam and the Thermos flask, a legacy which dynamic new businesses like Trapped Animal Records are taking forward.
“The Start Up Loans programme has helped a diverse range of entrepreneurs across the UK to get their business ideas off the ground, levelling up the entire country and enabling talented business leaders from all backgrounds to flourish.”
Richard Bearman, managing director of Start Up Loans, said: “We have always been committed to providing support and funding to smaller businesses that hail from each corner of the country, particularly in areas of deprivation where people may struggle to access funding, and this milestone is tribute to that.
“We are proud that our loans, mentoring and support for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs are helping to support the Build Back Better agenda and we’re delighted to have been able to help Joel make his dream into a reality”.
More details at startuploans.co.uk/free-start-up-guides.