Review finds 35% of start-ups wouldn’t have launched without a Start Up Loan

Start Up Loans, the government-funded loan provider to early-stage businesses, is helping boost UK business start-up rates – according to an independent review.

In a new study by SQW, 35% of small business owners said they wouldn’t have been able to start their own business without support and financial assistance from The Start Up Loans Company.

Launched in 2012, The Start Up Loans Company, a subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has delivered over 50,000 loans and provided more than £350m of funding to start-ups and early-stage businesses across the UK.

Today’s independent review produced three key findings:

1. The Start Up Loans Company has a significant and positive effect on the start up rate of beneficiary businesses.
2. The Start Up Loans Company has had a significant and positive effect on the likelihood that businesses increased their sales from year to year.
3. The programme represents positive value for money, with economic benefits estimated at around three times higher than economic costs.

The review is an independent, interim assessment of the programme’s impact focused on benefits delivered for target groups and value for money.

The Start Up Loans Company is also the headline sponsor of the Startups Awards 2017, which takes place on 30 November 2017 at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington.

With a record-breaking 77 finalists officially announced, Startups.co.uk readers can now vote for their Startups Awards People’s Champion 2017.

Matt Adey, director of economics at the British Business Bank, said:

“We welcome today’s interim findings by SQW Ltd.

“As the UK’s government-owned economic development bank, we are committed to ensuring our work receives independent scrutiny and are pleased that today’s findings show that the Start Up Loans programme is helping boost the number of people setting up their own business.”

Joanna Hill, CEO of The Start Up Loans Company, said:

“I am really pleased to see the positive outcomes from the year two evaluation. It is really encouraging to see that Start Up Loans are continuing to provide much needed support and opportunity to new business owners and the real contribution they make to the economy.”

See if you can get a Start Up Loan to help you start a business here.