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British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans Programme Launches a Guide to Business Resilience

Press release 22 February 2023

The Guide to Business Resilience is a free online resource providing information and guidance to small businesses on topics ranging from finance planning to mental health and wellbeing.

Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, has today launched a new ‘Guide to Business Resilience’ for small businesses. The resource contains practical and actionable guidance for start up businesses on what they can do to reduce their costs, boost their profitability, and increase their resilience.

The guide has been created in response to analysis of the most searched for terms on the Start Up Loans website, as people look for advice on topics from how to best manage energy costs through to curating a positive environment for mental health and wellbeing.

Covering eight key topics for business success, the guide provides short explanations on each and a series of actionable tips for how to implement processes into business. The topics are:

  • Financial planning and resilience (financial forecasting, cash flow, expenses, late payments)
  • Funding options and guidance (debt financing, interest and repayments, grants and support)
  • Focusing on customers (attracting them, keeping them, increasing spend and loyalty)
  • Supply chain solutions (finding and managing suppliers, and saving money)
  • Energy use solutions (how to assess and save on energy usage)
  • Technology solutions (cloud-based services, communication and business support)
  • Recruiting and supporting staff (on a budget)
  • Mental health and wellbeing (for you and your staff)
Small businesses are undoubtedly feeling the pressure as they navigate a complex and unpredictable economic climate. Beyond the financial strain this puts on businesses, it’s important to recognise the impact it can have on wellbeing to keep all the plates spinning. That’s why the Guide to Business Resilience covers everything from financial planning to mental health. We hope it acts as a useful resource for business owners so they can keep up momentum and succeed through any current difficulties they may be having. Richard Bearman Managing Director, Start Up Loans

Please visit the webpage for information and to download the Guide to Business Resilience for startups.

Businesses that are more established can access a separate version of the guide, aimed at businesses that have moved beyond the startup phase. Additional topics covered include:

  • foundations for growth
  • managing business costs
  • securing funds and controlling debt
  • optimising your supply chain
  • investing in technology

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 Delivery 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 our customers’ 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 (DBaT). A development bank wholly government-owned by DBaT, 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 almost 100,000 loans, providing more than £941 million of funding.
  • In the financial year 2021/22, the scheme provided 12,433 loans with a total value of approximately £152.4 million.
  • 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, 5% of loans went to people formerly unemployed or economically inactive. Some 40% of loan recipients were women and 21% were from ethnic minority groups (not including white minorities).

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