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Almost 9,500 loans have been provided to start up business owners in the West Midlands

Press release 06 August 2024

The British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme has announced it has passed a major milestone of £150 million worth of loans delivered in the Midlands region, providing almost 9,500 loans to entrepreneurs within the West Midlands.

It was revealed in September 2023 that Start Up Loans had delivered over £1 billion worth of loans nationwide since 2012 and the Midlands was a large contributor towards that.

Start Up Loans provides mentoring, support and funding to aspiring business owners in every corner of the United Kingdom and its impact has been particularly noticeable among individuals who might find it difficult to secure finance from other sources.

The West Midlands received a total of 9,474 loans, worth more than £91 million. Businesses in the West Midlands County received the highest number of loans in the region. Businesses based in the county received 5,020 loans amounting to over £45 million, averaging £9,090 per business.

Of the more than £91 million of Start Up Loans delivered in the West Midlands, more than 3,700 loans were to female founded businesses worth over £33 million and more than 1,100 loans were founded by ethnic minority groups, equating to over £14 million.

Regional Success Story - Sunday Skin, Birmingham

A Birmingham-based medical tattoo studio, Sunday Skin, secured £15,000 in funding in 2023 from First Enterprise under the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme to get the business off the ground.

Sunday Skin is a medical tattoo studio exclusively dedicated to covering scars from surgery, C-sections, acne, and stretch marks. Unlike other studios, Sunday Skin focuses solely on medical tattoos, providing transparent, tailored plans with no hidden costs or additional treatments.

The funding and support we have received from both the British Business Bank and First Enterprise has been life-changing. I have been able to fulfil my vision for my business and get the start I required, without this service it may have not been possible to complete in exactly the way I imagined. It is a privilege to be part of this small business community and I'm excited to see what the future holds. - Mia Casey Founder of Sunday Skin
What we have been able to deliver businesses in the Midlands is a testament to the great work and partnerships that take place across the region and wider - from the smaller business owners with the great business ideas to the Business Support Partners who are able to offer wonderful support to the right individuals and ideas. - Richard Bearman Managing Director of Small Business Lending at the British Business Bank

Further information on loans in the region:

County

No. of loans

Funding total (£)

Average loan amount (£)

East Midlands

6,492

62,749,343

9,666

Derbyshire

1,532

13,360,995

8,721

Leicestershire

1,230

12,470,125

10,138

Lincolnshire

1,576

14,924,420

9,470

Northamptonshire

984

10,356,256

10,525

Nottinghamshire

1,616

15,768,821

9,758

Rutland (UA)

50

561,029

11,221

West Midlands

9,474

91,585,384

£9,667

Herefordshire

259

2,766,495

£10,681

Shropshire

832

8,317,122

£9,997

Staffordshire

1,611

15,829,984

£9,826

Warwickshire

882

9,780,479

£11,089

West Midlands County

5,020

45,632,845

£9,090

Worcestershire

870

9,258,424

£10,642

MIDLANDS

15,966

154,334,691

£9,667

*Note: Not all county data contributes to the total Midlands figures - nor are all counties that have Midlands businesses included.

County

Female

BAME

18-24

50+

 

Loans Made

Value

Loans Made

Value

Loans Made

Value

Loans Made

Value

East Midlands

2,638

£23,559,222

498

£6,872,635

1,069

£7,312,561

732

£8,312,561

Derbyshire

605

£5,067,699

70

£945,570

223

£1,350,917

204

£2,186,850

Leicestershire

482

£4,389,908

169

£2,371,812

196

£1,476,647

138

£1,627,972

Lincolnshire

672

£5,929,093

33

£421,200

261

£1,774,126

210

£2,139,326

Northamptonshire

390

£3,709,652

81

£1,033,800

145

£1,059,644

100

£1,269,020

Nottinghamshire

674

£6,034,414

150

£2,177,753

300

£2,039,375

152

£1,860,000

Rutland (UA)

24

£275,270

1

£15,000

4

£16,500

7

£75,359

West Midlands

3,713

£33,408,365

1,103

£14,593,178

1,634

£11,312,949

1,040

£11,897,394

Herefordshire

98

£1,007,023

3

£33,200

37

£357,487

33

£394,183

Shropshire

329

£3,054,350

23

£319,950

140

£974,725

129

£1,572,966

Staffordshire

634

£5,887,265

93

£1,282,900

290

£2,105,916

179

£2,116,959

Warwickshire

382

£3,951,631

74

£1,027,381

81

£640,321

121

£1,428,320

West Midlands County

1,924

16,125,781

864

£11,362,648

937

£6,150,820

459

£4,877,732

Worcestershire

346

£3,382,314

46

£567,099

149

£1,083,680

119

£1,507,234

MIDLANDS

6,351

£56,967,587

2,172

£21,465,813

2,703

£18,625,510

1,772

£20,209,955

Further Information

If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry, please contact [email protected].

Notes to editors

About Start Up Loans

The Start Up Loans programme provides personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 at a 6% fixed interest rate per annum and offers free dedicated mentoring and support to each business.

The primary aim of the Start Up Loans programme is to ensure that viable start-ups and early-stage businesses have access to the finance and support they need in order to thrive. A network of Business Support Partner organisations supports applicants in all regions and industries throughout the UK. The Start Up Loans programme is not designed to generate a commercial profit. Capital payments together with the interest are recycled to help meet borrowers’ increasing demands for finance.

Free guides on a range of subjects related to starting a business and recent media press releases are available on the Start Up Loans website.

The funding for the Start Up Loans programme is provided by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). A development bank wholly government-owned by DBT, the British Business Bank plc is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank and its subsidiary entities are not banking institutions and do not operate as such.

The British Business Bank makes finance markets for smaller businesses work better, helping the sector to prosper, to grow and to build economic activity.

Key Statistics

  • Since its inception in 2012, the Start Up Loans scheme has delivered over 105,000 loans, providing more than £1bn of funding.
  • In the financial year 2022/23, the scheme provided 9,549 loans with a total value of approximately £120m. 
  • The economic benefits of the Start Up Loans programme are almost six (5.7) times its economic costs.
  • At Spending Review 2021, the Chancellor announced resources to provide 33,000 Start Up Loans over next three years.

Aside from the return-on-investment numbers these statistics are gross estimates and based on Start Up Loans CRM along with externally commissioned research undertaken by SQW Ltd, with support from BMG Research.

Since 2012, 31% of loans went to people formerly unemployed or economically inactive. 40% of loan recipients were women and 20% were from ethnic minority groups (not including white minorities).

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